Boundary Work in Inclusive Religious Groups: Constructing Identity at the New York Catholic Worker

Social Movements and Bridge Building: Religious and Sexual Identity Conflicts

“…Prodded by insights on intersectionality (see recent reviews and developments by Cho, Crenshaw, & McCall, 2013;Chun, Lipsitz, & Shin, 2013;Verloo, 2013), social movement scholars have increasingly sought to understand how activists negotiate overlapping positional and cultural differences in the social world (e.g., Beamish & Luebbers, 2009;Braunstein, Fulton, & Wood, 2014;Brecher & Costello, 1990;Gamson, 1997;Ghaziani, 2011;Lichterman, 1995Lichterman, , 2005Longard, 2013;Mayer, 2009;Nakano, 2013;Reger, Myers, & Einwohner, 2008;Roth, 2003Roth, , 2008Smith, 2002;Snarr, 2009;Swarts, 2011;Wood, Fulton, & Partridge, 2012;Yukich, 2010). One way that social movement scholars have attempted to address this question is through attention to "bridging work" or "bridge building" in social movements, which is a "form of social movement interaction that focuses explicitly on efforts to overcome and negotiate conflicts that result from different collective identities," usually in a way that takes into account the concerns of all actors involved (Roth, 2003, p. 9; see also Beamish & Luebbers, 2009;Braunstein et al, 2014;Brecher & Costello, 1990;Ghaziani, 2011;Lichterman, 2005;Mayer, 2009;Roth, 2008;Smith, 2002;Snarr, 2009;Wood et al, 2012).…”

“…This "bridging work" approach to collective identity can be contrasted with "boundary work" related to collective identity (e.g., Gamson, 1997;Guenther, Mulligan, & Papp, 2013;Swarts, 2011;Taylor & Whittier, 1992;Yukich, 2010). Literature on collective identity has often assumed that social movement organizations and communities actively define themselves in opposition to their targets and other outside groups.…”

Encounters at the Religious Edge: Variation in Religious Expression Across Interfaith Advocacy and Social Movement Settings

“…This need not mean that people do not have enduring religious identities and commitments, just that those are expressed differently depending on the setting (Lichterman 2005(Lichterman , 2008Wood 2002;Yukich 2010).…”

“…Shifting away from concerns about the maintenance of individual beliefs in the wake of rising religious diversity, research is increasingly finding that the expression of religion differs according to social context, from religiously homogenous worship services to interfaith activist groups (Klassen and Bender 2010; Lichterman 2012). This need not mean that people do not have enduring religious identities and commitments, just that those are expressed differently depending on the setting (Lichterman 2005(Lichterman , 2008 Wood 2002;Yukich 2010).…”

“…Yet individual religiosity has been unexpectedly resilient in the face of religious diversity (e.g., Casanova 1994; Finke and Stark 2005), with sociologists emphasizing the significance of intergroup competition (Finke and Stark 2005) and boundary work (Smith 1998) in maintaining individuals' distinctive religious beliefs.Shifting away from concerns about the maintenance of individual beliefs in the wake of rising religious diversity, research is increasingly finding that the expression of religion differs according to social context, from religiously homogenous worship services to interfaith activist groups (Klassen and Bender 2010; Lichterman 2012). This need not mean that people do not have enduring religious identities and commitments, just that those are expressed differently depending on the setting (Lichterman 2005(Lichterman , 2008 Wood 2002;Yukich 2010).Settings can vary in form from ephemeral gatherings to more enduring organizational structures. In each case, researchers are attuned to the ways in which interactions within are shaped and constrained by the dominant style of the setting.…”