Research note: implicit conservatism in liberal religion: British Quakers as an ‘uncertain sect’

Dandelion, Pink

doi:10.1080/1353790042000207728

Cited by 16 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…When the individual is committed to participating in a belief community, their personal belief model is subjected to power structures that reward or punish particular interpretations of experience. The process of belief described in this issue by Carlisle as he draws from practice theory, supports much of the current writing on Friends (Collins ; Dandelion , , ; Kline ; Pluss , ). By being engaged with the culturally sanctioned categories an agent demonstrates commitment to a community and is rewarded with economic, social, and emotional support.…”

supporting

confidence: 61%

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The Quaker Journey and the Framing of Corporate and Personal Belief

Kline¹

2012

Ethos

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The British Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) illustrates the management of personal and corporate belief and experience without the use of creedal statements or centralized religious authority. This builds on the work of anthropologists like James Fernandez and Peter Stromberg who introduce forms of consensus responsible for maintaining unity in religious communities. While their work expanded anthropological understanding on diverse interpretations of common symbols, this article builds on their observations to show how the use of tropes also encourages unity. Quakers incorporate diversity and a notion of continuing revelation into their communal belief system, and individual participants are encouraged to explore personal belief. Since the Quaker corporate belief model accommodates change, tensions shift to maintaining identity among the theologically diverse interpretations of truth. To accomplish some homogeneity Friends also employ a journey trope to frame diversity and manage the potential tension between corporate and personal understanding.

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supporting

confidence: 61%

“…Since participants will use their experience within Quakerism as well as models from other faiths to develop their individual beliefs, Quaker corporate belief is fluid (Collins ; Dandelion , , ; Kline ; Pluss , ). The fluidity of their corporate model results from tradition and happenstance.…”

Section: Belief and Diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Quaker Journey and the Framing of Corporate and Personal Belief

Kline¹

2012

Ethos

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“…The Religious Society of Friends (hereafter the Society, or Quakers) has never accepted creeds (Punshon 1984: 202; Dandelion 2004: 220). Friends in Britain are ‘unprogrammed’, i.e.…”

Section: Non‐doctrinal Religion and Social Cohesionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This article will develop the argument that the suggestion that adhering to shared sets of beliefs (which legitimize the institutional means of a group to shape its members' conduct) is a necessary condition to assure group cohesion does not explain the relationship between the cognitive features and the organizational characteristics of non‐doctrinal religion . If this suggestion is valid, the idea that a non‐doctrinal religious group may exert control over the behaviour of its adherents is a paradox that can only be resolved by explaining that either a group is not as non‐doctrinal as it claims to be (Dandelion 1996: 118–20 and 2004: 220–1), or the behaviour of its members derives not from the socialization efforts of the group in question but rather from the characteristics that these individuals already possessed before they joined the group (Balch 1979: 8–9, quoted in Richardson 1985: 170).…”

Section: Non‐doctrinal Religion and Social Cohesionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analysing non‐doctrinal socialization: re‐assessing the role of cognition to account for social cohesion in the Religious Society of Friends¹

Plüss¹

2007

British Journal of Sociology

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To incorporate newcomers into membership, a group employs socialization strategies to transform the characteristics of the newcomers, so that it can admit them with the confidence that their behaviour will not endanger group unity. Analyses of socialization emphasize that novices' interiorization of an institutional definition of group behaviour is a necessary condition to ensure successful socialization. The contemporary Religious Society of Friends in Britain, however, is a non-doctrinal religious movement that avoids defining the content of its beliefs and practices. To analyse the socializing interaction between members and newcomers in this movement in Britain, and among co-religionists in the USA, this inquiry applies a model of socialization that does not include assumptions about the role played by cognition in socialization (Long and Hadden 1983). My results show that: (a) the diffuseness in Friends' collective explanations of institutional conduct supports novices' identification with institutional practice, and (b) experimental and affective components in socialization motivate novices to imitate institutional behaviour despite the fact that Friends have no authoritative explanations of such behaviour. The data suggest that socialization and social cohesion are not necessarily as strongly cognitive-oriented phenomena as they were previously thought to be. This finding has important implications for thinking about social cohesion in postmodern society.

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“…Dandelion (1996) argues that the faith or belief of Quakers celebrates diversity, whereas the behaviour and practice is governed and tightly regulated. This is the 'double-culture' of Quakerism (Dandelion, 2004). A bewildering diversity of theological outlook, illustrated by the existence of Quagans (Vincett 2009), Muslim, Buddhist, and even Moonie Quakers (Dandelion 2004) is combined with a coherence and unity in practicefor example, in QBM.…”

Section: Truth In Quakerism Quaker Business Methods and Organizationamentioning

confidence: 99%

Organizational ethnography and religious organizations: the case of Quaker decision-making

Burton

Koning

Muers

2018

Journal of Management, Spirituality & Religion

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How should we study the management practices of religious organizations to do justice to their distinctive religious motivations and traditions? In this paper, we articulate how a specific research approachorganizational ethnographymay enable a deeper understanding of religious and/or spiritual organizational practice. We approach our methodological research questions by engaging with the literature on the distinctive decisionmaking practices of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), commonly known as the Quaker business method. Having shown that the Quaker business method destabilizes a simple binary between 'insider' and 'outsider' and between believers and non-believers, we bring the theory and practice of organizational ethnography into conversation with Quaker accounts of decision-making. We conclude with pathways for future research in the space this destabilization creates.

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Research note: implicit conservatism in liberal religion: British Quakers as an ‘uncertain sect’

Cited by 16 publications

References 14 publications

The Quaker Journey and the Framing of Corporate and Personal Belief

The Quaker Journey and the Framing of Corporate and Personal Belief

Analysing non‐doctrinal socialization: re‐assessing the role of cognition to account for social cohesion in the Religious Society of Friends¹

Organizational ethnography and religious organizations: the case of Quaker decision-making

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Research note: implicit conservatism in liberal religion: British Quakers as an ‘uncertain sect’

Cited by 16 publications

References 14 publications

The Quaker Journey and the Framing of Corporate and Personal Belief

The Quaker Journey and the Framing of Corporate and Personal Belief

Analysing non‐doctrinal socialization: re‐assessing the role of cognition to account for social cohesion in the Religious Society of Friends1

Organizational ethnography and religious organizations: the case of Quaker decision-making

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Product

Resources

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Analysing non‐doctrinal socialization: re‐assessing the role of cognition to account for social cohesion in the Religious Society of Friends¹