Faith in Action

by Wood, Richard L.

• ISBN13: 9780226905969
• ISBN10: 0226905969
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-09-15
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

Over the past fifteen years, associations throughout the U.S. have organized citizens around issues of equality and social justice, often through local churches. But in contrast to President Bush's vision of faith-based activism, in which groups deliver social services to the needy, these associations do something greater. Drawing on institutions of faith, they reshape public policies that neglect the disadvantaged. To find out how this faith-based form of community organizing succeeds, Richard L. Wood spent several years working with two local groups in Oakland, California--the faith-based Pacific Institute for Community Organization and the race-based Center for Third World Organizing. Comparing their activist techniques and achievements, Wood argues that the alternative cultures and strategies of these two groups give them radically different access to community ties and social capital. Creative and insightful, Faith in Action shows how community activism and religious organizations can help build a more just and democratic future for all Americans.

Author Biography

Richard L. Wood is an associate professor of sociology at the University of New Mexico.

Table of Contents

List of Tables and Figures	ix
Acknowledgments	xi
Introduction: Democratic Renewal in America	1	(18)
Part One Dynamics of Contention in Faith-Based and Multiracial Organizing	19	(134)
Faith-Based Organizing in Action: The Local Organizing Committee at Saint Elizabeth Catholic Church	23	(32)
Higher Power: The Symbiosis of Religion and Politics	55	(34)
Race-Based Organizing in Action	89	(36)
Reweaving the Social Fabric: Social Capital and Political Power	125	(28)
Part Two Thinking Culturally about Politics	153	(128)
The Political Culture of Faith-Based Organizing: Practices, Beliefs, Ethos	161	(36)
Cultural Dynamics and Political Action	197	(22)
The Limitations of Religious Culture: Moralistic and Therapeutic Faith	219	(40)
Making Democracy Work in America	259	(22)
Appendix 1 Organizations Sponsoring Multiracial Organizing and Faith-Based Organizing	281	(10)
Appendix 2 History and Development of PICO	291	(8)
Notes	299	(24)
References	323	(10)
Index	333