Costs of Diversity in Religious Organizations: An In-depth Case Study

A significant body of literature has documented and explained the racial and ethnic homogeneity of volunteer organizations, including religious ones. This paper seeks to break new ground by beginning to examine ethnically diverse religious organizations. In this study we ask: What are the personal costs of being in a multiethnic religious organization, and are these costs borne disproportionately by any specific groups of people? Drawing on macrostructural theories of intergroup relations and social psychological principles, we hypothesize that minority groups (in size and power) within ethnically mixed congregations will disproportionately bear costs compared to the majority group. We test our hypotheses using a case study congregation, conducting in-depth interviews with 22 members and 4 former members of the congregation. We also conduct a network analysis with 38 members of the congregation. We conclude that the same social dynamics that tend to produce internal homogeneity in volunteer organizations also produce high personal costs of belonging to multiethnic religious organizations. This is an important finding because it leads to the larger question of how multiethnic religious organizations survive despite these costs

Religion and America\u27s urban youth

Ch. 1

Race, Religious Organizations, and Integration

We review the bourgeoning literature on multiracial religious organizations. Although scholars have paid attention to racial integration in congregations since the 1940s, only recently has there been a concerted focus on this topic. This article-having reviewed the state of the field-argues that research on this topic must engage in three vital labors: explore more theory building or theory extension, interact with the broader field of sociology, and explicate how religious racial diversity contributes to or dismantles systems of social stratification. We discuss possible paths and approaches for future research on race, religion, and integration

Welcoming the stranger? immigration and justice in a global economy

Ch.

The rise of network christianity : how independent leaders are changing the religious landscape

Why, when traditionally organized religious groups are seeing declining membership and participation, are networks of independent churches growing so explosively? Drawing on in-depth interviews with leaders and participants, The Rise of Network Christianity explains the social forces behind the fastest-growing form of Christianity in the U.S., which Brad Christerson and Richard Flory have labeled Independent Network Charismatic. This form of Christianity emphasizes aggressive engagement with the supernatural-including healing, direct prophecies from God, engaging in spiritual warfare against demonic spirits--and social transformation. Christerson and Flory argue that macro-level social changes since the 1970s, including globalization and the digital revolution, have given competitive advantages to religious groups organized as networks rather than traditionally organized congregations and denominations. Network forms of governance allow for experimentation with controversial supernatural practices, innovative finances and marketing, and a highly participatory, unorthodox, and experiential faith, which is attractive in today\u27s unstable religious marketplace. Christerson and Flory hypothesize that as more religious groups imitate this type of governance, religious belief and practice will become more experimental, more orientated around practice than theology, more shaped by the individual religious consumer, and authority will become more highly concentrated in the hands of individuals rather than institutions. Network Christianity, they argue, is the future of Christianity in America.https://digitalcommons.biola.edu/faculty-books/1038/thumbnail.jp

Growing up in America : the power of race in the lives of teens

People\u27s experiences of racial inequality in adulthood are well documented, but less attention is given to the racial inequalities that children and adolescents face. Growing Up in America provides a rich, first-hand account of the different social worlds that teens of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds experience. In their own words, these American teens describe, conflicts with parents, pressures from other teens, school experiences, and religious beliefs that drive their various understandings of the world. As the book reveals, teens\u27 unequal experiences have a significant impact on their adult lives and their potential for social mobility. Directly confronting the constellation of advantages and disadvantages white, black, Hispanic, and Asian teens face today, this work provides a framework for understanding the relationship between socialization in adolescence and social inequality in adulthood. By uncovering the role racial and ethnic differences play early on, we can better understand the sources of inequality in American life.https://digitalcommons.biola.edu/faculty-books/1016/thumbnail.jp

Against all odds : the struggle for racial integration in religious organizations

Religious institutions are among the most segregated organizations in American society. This segregation has long been a troubling issue among scholars and religious leaders alike. Despite attempts to address this racial divide, integrated churches are very difficult to maintain over time. Why is this so? How can organizations incorporate separate racial, ethnic, and cultural groups? Should they? And what are the costs and rewards for people and groups in such organizations? Following up on Michael O. Emerson and Christian Smith\u27s award-winning Divided by Faith, Against All Odds breaks new ground by exploring the beliefs, practices, and structures which allow integrated religious organizations to survive and thrive despite their difficulties. Based on six in-depth ethnographies of churches and other Christian organizations, this engaging work draws on numerous interviews, so that readers can hear first-hand the joys and frustrations which arise from actually experiencing racial integration. The book gives an inside, visceral sense of what it is like to be part of a multiracial religious organization as well as a theoretical understanding of these experiences.https://digitalcommons.biola.edu/faculty-books/1218/thumbnail.jp

The Third China? Emerging industrial districts in rural China

While the growth of postfordist industrial districts in certain locations in the developed world has been well documented, the impact of the shift toward flexible production in the so-called third world has received less attention. This paper is an attempt to incorporate the dynamic, networked, manufacturing family firms in parts of China into the flexible industrial district debate. We argue that dense networks of small firms emerging in rural China in many ways resemble the industrial districts of the 'Third Italy' and elsewhere: they are globally competitive in producing for fast-changing fashionable market niches, they contain networks of relatively autonomous small firms which are at least partially locally owned and managed and which often take part in high-value activities such as design and marketing. We suggest that the social embeddedness of investment and production linkages with ethnic Chinese firms in Hong Kong and Taiwan may be an effective substitute for the spatial concentration of suppliers, producers, designers, and final markets, which is recognized as an important source of innovation and flexibility in core industrial districts. Copyright Joint Editors and Blackwell Publishers Ltd 1997.