Doctoral Dissertation Research: Congregational Engagement in Faith-Based Community Organizing

brian SteenslandKristin gerat印第安纳大学使用定性研究方法研究宗教集会的起源？政治动员，本研究旨在发现有信仰的人如何参与公共生活。它调查了将以前非政治（或边缘政治）的宗教团体转变为严肃的政治行动者的文化过程。问题在于，为什么有些教会参与并倡导系统性解决社会问题，而附近的教会则从事更典型的慈善工作，或者根本不参与公共生活。这项研究对社区组织者和宗教团体内的主要线人进行了大约80次深入访谈；参与培训、敬拜、会议、行动和宣传活动的观察；以及对大量档案材料的文本分析。该项目比较了芝加哥郊区参与广泛社区组织的会众样本和人口统计学上相似的会众样本，这些会众要么以其他方式参与社区生活，要么根本不参与社区生活。社区组织？其机构成员包括天主教、主流新教和福音派新教、犹太教和穆斯林教会，并隶属于一个全国性的社区组织网络。在政治和经济气候下，可用于解决公民问题的资源越来越少？关注，无党派的基于信仰的社区组织为解决住房、教育和医疗保健等地方问题提供了重要途径。这个项目将阐明不同信仰的人如何导航和协商由普世和不同信仰的努力所产生的障碍。

SES-0926557Brian SteenslandKristin GeratyIndiana UniversityUsing qualitative research methods to study the origins of religious congregations? political mobilization, this study aims to discover how people of faith engage in public life. It investigates the cultural processes that transform previously nonpolitical (or marginally political) religious congregations into serious political actors. At issue is why some congregations engage in and advocate for systemic solutions to social problems while nearby congregations engage in more typical forms of charity work or do not engage in public life at all. The study draws on approximately 80 in-depth interviews with community organizers and key informants within religious congregations; participant observation at training sessions, worship services, meetings, actions and campaign events; and textual analysis of extensive archival material. The project compares a sample of congregations in suburban Chicago who engage in broad-based community organizing with a sample of demographically similar congregations that either engage in community life in other ways or do not engage at all. The community organization?s institutional membership includes Catholic, mainline and evangelical Protestant, Jewish, and Muslim congregations and is affiliated with a national network of community organizations. In a political and economic climate with fewer and fewer resources available to address citizens? concerns, non-partisan faith-based community organizations provide an important avenue for addressing local issues such as housing, education, and healthcare. This project will shed light on how people of various faiths navigate and negotiate the obstacles that result from ecumenical and interfaith endeavors.