A comparative analysis of ethclass indices among three ethnoreligious groups in a midwestern community

Includes bibliographical references.A survey of the sociological literature pertinent to intergroup relations revealed that a basic theoretical framework which considers the concepts of ethnicity and class is needed. Gordon has suggested the concept of ethclass, the subsociety created by the intersection of the ethnic group and class, as a linkage between ethnic and social stratification. Since there have been no empirical tests of the relevance' of the ethclass concept for selected ethnic groups, this thesis attempted to ascertain the applicability of ethclass for the understanding of primary group relationships. A questionnaire concerning the major variables of nationality, religion, class, friendship and marriage patterns was designed and distributed to couples who belonged to the Greek Orthodox, Italian Catholic, and Swedish Lutheran ethnic groups of "Forest City." Altogether 264 questionnaires were utilized in the analysis of data. Two general hypotheses provided the focus for the study. According to the first one, social participation in primary group relationships tends to be confined to members of one’s social class segment within one's own ethnic group, that is to the ethclass. From the testing of the four specific hypotheses under the broader framework, it was concluded that people do confine their primary group relations to persons of their own ethclass much more often than one would expect by random selection. The couples were more likely to establish friendships with persons of their own class than ethnicity but this was not the case regarding their marriage patterns or preferences for their children’s marital partners. Both friendship and marriage patterns occurred more often within the same religion than nationality. As one moved from the second to the third generation, some attenuation of nationality identification and primary group relations within one's own nationality was noted. The second general hypothesis attempted to relate the process of mobility, the dynamic element of the class system, to the ethclass tendency.' Contrary to the original hypothesis which suggested that mobile persons would associate less within their own ethclass, it was found that they had similar patterns of primary group relations and similar nationality and religious identification. Thus the ethclass tendency was found relevant for upward mobiles as well as middle class and working class stables. Finally, the need for more studies dealing with the ethclass hypothesis was discussed.M.A. (Master of Arts

Rapport, Respect, Lisa K. Waldner: Vitae 7 and Dissonance: Studying the White Power Movement in the United States

We examine the advantages and disadvantages of conducting fieldwork with the highly stigmatized white power movement in the United States and ultimately argue that this work is important to achieve a more complete understanding of racist movements. Typically, the relationship between researcher and those studied involves the building of trust and rapport. In the case of highly stigmatized white power members, how much rapport should one develop? Does developing rapport with racist respondents provide legitimacy to such movements? How does the researcher handle the internal dissonance of building rapport with racist respondents in spite of deeply held beliefs opposing racism? We consider these questions along with techniques of rapport building. We discuss several sociological concepts that assist in understanding researcher discomfort and the strategies used to handle cognitive dissonance and stigma. We review what other researchers have written about the issues raised here and share our own experiences. We argue that an in-depth analysis of the movement is more difficult without interacting with movement members. Attending white power rallies, meetings, or celebrations, provides a better grasp on how and why these events occur, as well as the implications for society

Interviewing Members of The White Power Movement in The United States: Reflections on Research Strategies and Challenges

Researching the Far Right brings together researchers from across the humanities and social sciences to provide much needed discussion about the methodological, ethical, political, personal, practical and professional issues and challenges that arise when researching far right parties, their electoral support, and far right protest movements. Drawing on original research focussing mainly on Europe and North America over the last 30 years, this volume explores in detail the opportunities and challenges associated with using ethnographic, interview-based, quantitative and online research methods to study the far right. These reflections are set within a wider discussion of the evolution of far right studies from a variety of disciplinary viewpoints within the humanities or the social sciences, tracing the key developments and debates that shape the field today. This volume will be essential reading for students and scholars with an interest in understanding the many manifestations of the far right and cognate movements today. It also offers insight and reflection that is likely to be valuable for a wider range of students and scholars across the humanities and social sciences who are carrying out work of an ethically, politically, personally, practically and professionally challenging nature

Graffiti as a Form of Contentious Political Participation

Graffiti is a popular topic in the sociological, criminological, and linguistic literature with several book length treatments of various types of graffiti including tagging, gang graffiti, murals, and “bombings”. Yet, political sociologists have paid little attention to the role of graffiti as a form of contentious politics despite the often political nature of graffiti messages. As a result, most of the political research on graffiti is by non-sociologists. We believe this is an oversight and that both political sociologists and social movement scholars need to seriously consider this form of micro-level political participation. In this review we (1) demonstrate why some forms of graffiti should be considered a serious form of political participation; (2) compare and contrast graffiti to other forms of resistance including squatting and culture jamming; (3) review research findings on graffiti; and (4) discuss some of the conceptual and methodological challenges for doing graffiti research

Berlin Political Crises, Street Art and Graffiti from 1945 to 2019

Whether aesthetically or politically inspired, graffiti is among the oldest forms of expression in human history, one that becomes especially significant during periods of social and political upheaval. With a particular focus on the demographic, ecological, and economic crises of today, this volume provides a wide-ranging exploration of urban space and visual protest. Assembling case studies that cover topics such as gentrification in Cyprus, the convulsions of post-independence East Timor, and opposition to Donald Trump in the American capital, it reveals the diverse ways in which street artists challenge existing social orders and reimagine urban landscapes

Establishing Access and Building Rapport with Stigmatized Groups: Interviewing White Power Activists

This case study illustrates some of the methodological and ethical difficulties of gaining access to those who are members of a stigmatized group. Beginning in 1992 through the early 2000s co-author Betty Dobratz attended rallies and demonstrations of White power supporters to understand this type of right-wing extremism. We also interviewed White power activists, both leaders and followers, as well as collected questionnaires from those we could not directly interview. For the research reported in this case study, we were interested in White power activists\u27 views on both the use of leaderless resistance and violence as strategies for bringing about movement goals. We used qualitative coding as well as statistical techniques to examine data collected from both interviews and questionnaires

The White Power Movement’s Populist Connection to the Tea Party Movement in the United States

There has been considerable discussion about the extent of racist ideology in the Tea Party Movement (TPM). Although we consider this to be an important issue, we focus on how the ideological framings of the White Power Movement (WPM) and the TPM are similar, especially in respect to right-wing populism. We examine particularly the producerism, scapegoating, and conspiracism of populism. We analyze our own WP data collected in the 1990s and early 2000s and compare it with the social science findings on the TPM. Although there are certain differences, there are significant similarities that provide support not only for a race frame but for other populist bridging frames between the two movements which we suggest increases the likelihood they interact and recruit each other