Religion and Progressive Activism: New Stories About Faith and Politics

by Ruth Braunstein (Editor), Todd Nicholas Fuist (Editor), Rhys H. Williams (Editor)

Overview

New stories about religiously motivated progressive activism challenge common understandings of the American political landscape.

To many mainstream-media saturated Americans, the terms “progressive” and “religious” may not seem to go hand-in-hand. As religion is usually tied to conservatism, an important way in which religion and politics intersect is being overlooked. Religion and Progressive Activism focuses on this significant intersection, revealing that progressive religious activists are a driving force in American public life, involved in almost every political issue or area of public concern.

This volume brings together leading experts who dissect and analyze the inner worlds and public strategies of progressive religious activists from the local to the transnational level. It provides insight into documented trends, reviews overlooked case studies, and assesses the varied ways in which progressive religion forces us to deconstruct common political binaries such as right/left and progress/tradition.

In a coherent and accessible way, this book engages and rethinks long accepted theories of religion, of social movements, and of the role of faith in democratic politics and civic life. Moreover, by challenging common perceptions of religiously motivated activism, it offers a more grounded and nuanced understanding of religion and the American political landscape.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781479852901
Publisher:	New York University Press
Publication date:	06/13/2017
Series:	Religion and Social Transformation , #6
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	368
Sales rank:	272,992
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Ruth Braunstein (Editor)
Ruth Braunstein is Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Connecticut. Her research explores the ways in which citizens participate in public life, and the complex role of religion in this process. She is the author of Prophets and Patriots: Faith in Democracy Across the Political Divide.

Todd Nicholas Fuist (Editor)
Todd Nicholas Fuist is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Illinois Wesleyan University. His research interests include religion, politics, identity, and sexuality, with a focus on how culture serves to motivate socio-moral action. His work has been published in the Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, Critical Research on Religion, and Social Movement Studies.

Rhys H. Williams (Editor)
Rhys Williams is Professor of Sociology and Department Chair Director of the McNamara Center for the Social Study of Religion at Loyola University Chicago. He is coauthor or editor of three books, including Civil Religion Today: Religion and the American Nation in the Twenty-First Century (NYU Press, 2021), The Urban Church Imagined: Religion, Race, and Authenticity in the City (New York University Press, 2017) and Religion and Progressive Activism: New Stories about Faith and Politics (New York University Press, 2017).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments vii

Introduction: Religion and Progressive Activism-Introducing and Mapping the Field Todd Nicholas Fuist Ruth Braunstein Rhys H. Williams 1

Part I Patterns of Progressive Religious Mobilization and Engagement 27

1 Achieving and Leveraging Diversity through Faith-Based Organizing Brad R. Fulton Richard L. Wood 29

2 Progressive Religious Activists and Democratic Party Politics Rebecca Sager 56

3 Why Congregations Mobilize for Progressive Causes Kraig Beyerlein A. Joseph West 76

4 Collective Identity and Movement Solidarity among Religious Left Activists in the U.S. Laura R. Olson 97

Part II Cultural Challenges of Progressive Religious Activism 115

5 Cultural Challenges for Mainline Protestant Political Progressives Paul Lichterman Rhys H. Williams 117

6 Activist Etiquette in the Multicultural Immigrant Rights Movement Mia Diaz-Edelman 138

7 Challenges and Opportunities of Community Organizing in Suburban Congregations Kristin Geraty 161

Part III The Roles of Religion in Progressive Political Action 181

8 Religious Roots of New Left Radicalism Joshua Z. Gahr Michael P. Young 183

9 Religious Culture and Immigrant Civic Participation Juan R. Martinez 205

10 Progressive Activism among Buddhists, Hindus, and Muslims in the U.S. Grace Yukich 225

11 Religious Beliefs and Perceptions of Repression in the U.S. and Swedish Plowshares Movements Sharon Erickson Nepstad 246

Part IV Distinctive Styles of Progressive Religious Talk in the Public Sphere 269

12 Reviving the Civil Religious Tradition Philip S. Gorski 271

13 Strategic Storytelling by Nuns on the Bus Ruth Braunstein 289

14 "Neutral" Talk in Educating for Activism Gary J. Adler, Jr. 308

15 How Moral Talk Connects Faith and Social Justice Todd Nicholas Fuist 328

Conclusion: What Progressive Efforts Tell Us about Faith and Politics Rhys H. Williams 348

About the Contributors 365

Index 371

Editorial Reviews

"Social scientists have invested a great deal of energy in trying to understand the religious right, but not nearly enough time and effort has been devoted to the crucial role, in our past and present, of the religious left. This book is thus an enormous contribution and a groundbreaking work. This timely volume shatters the myth of the religious rights monopoly on faith-based political activism. While acknowledging the difficulties confronted by religious liberals in organizing for social justice, the authors provide a wealth of new evidence-based insights about how to strengthen the progressive religious movement at a time when its witness is badly needed."

E.J. Dionne Jr.

"This commendable collection, centered on sociological analyses of left-liberal Christians, makes a timely intervention into debates about religion in the United States. Its strongest takeaway arguments are: (1) to remind anyone who may need reminding that left-of-center Christian activism has not lost its salience and potential, however much it is discounted by the media or scholarly fashions; (2) to critique culture war analyses in which religion is mainly on the right and progressives are mainly non-religious—and by extension to revise sociological frames that approach religious activism in ways that make more sense for the right than the left; and (3) to document activism, especially in the two forms most valorized here: Faith Based Community Organizations (FBCOs) in Saul Alinsky’s tradition, and work related to immigrant rights."

Reading Religion

"An edited volume by two rising stars in the sociology of religion, Ruth Braunstein and Todd Fuist, and an eminent scholar in the same field, Rhys Williams, Religion and Progressive Activism does not disappoint with its exploration of the role progressive religion has played in past and contemporary social movements. Many of its contributors are among the top scholars in the sub-discipline. As a whole, the volume assesses the political and intellectual conditions under which progressive religious activism has abated as a socio-political force. It attempts to come to terms with what exactly is progressive religious activism. It identifies the causal factors behind progressive religious mobilization. The book also explores a variety of contemporary cases in an effort to understand the factors that potentially facilitate and impede its political constancy and expression."

Critical Research on Religion

"In this edited volume, the authors do a great service to scholars of religion and social change by bringing needed attention to the often invisible religious underpinnings of progressive civic and political engagement. In response to the media’s commonplace portrayal of religious politics as that of the Religious Right, which is often shown in contrast to the secular Left, these authors showcase various examples of religiously influenced progressive activism. They map out key contours of this often unrecognized field, showing how progressive religious activism is influenced both by the secular Left and religious Right, yet distinctive from each of these groups in pursuing change through religiously inspired activism to address stratification and inequality in American society."

Review of Religious Research

"Much of our current understanding of religion and politics is based on studies of the activism of conservative, even extremist forms of religious practice. But historically that is not necessarily the most important connection. In the 19th Century progressive religious groups were instrumental to abolitionist and woman's suffrage movements. And in the current context religious groups have a leading role in many struggles for justice. Braunstein, Fuist, and Williams' volume brings together some leading scholars of religion to look at some of the most important cases and theorize what they mean for our understanding of religion and social activism."

David Smilde

"On its main premise, the book is successful: readers will be convinced of the existence of a religious Left. Pockets of progressive religion and its carriers sit in churches, on the border, in suburbia, on buses, in campaigns, and more. But the books longest-lasting success may resound even more so from contributors efforts to expose the undergirdingstructuresof modern religion in action."

Sociology of Religion

"Consisted of helpful introductory and concluding essays as well as 15 wide-ranging and engagingly written contributions from knowledgeable scholars, this volume greatly enhances our understanding of progressive religion’s role in American politics today… I know of no book—in terms of topic, breath, and acuity of analysis—quite like this one. At seemingly every turn, I learned something new."

Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion

"Much of our current understanding of religion and politics is based on studies of the activism of conservative, even extremist forms of religious practice. But historically that is not necessarily the most important connection. In the 19th Century progressive religious groups were instrumental to abolitionist and woman's suffrage movements. And in the current context religious groups have a leading role in many struggles for justice. Braunstein, Fuist, and Williams' volume brings together some leading scholars of religion to look at some of the most important cases and theorize what they mean for our understanding of religion and social activism."-David Smilde,Charles A and Leo M Favrot Professor of Social Relations, Tulane University

“Social scientists have invested a great deal of energy in trying to understand the religious right, but not nearly enough time and effort has been devoted to the crucial role, in our past and present, of the religious left. This book is thus an enormous contribution and a groundbreaking work. This timely volume shatters the myth of the religious right’s monopoly on faith-based political activism. While acknowledging the difficulties confronted by religious liberals in organizing for social justice, the authors provide a wealth of new evidence-based insights about how to strengthen the progressive religious movement at a time when its witness is badly needed.”-E.J. Dionne Jr.,Author of Why the Right Went Wrong

“On its main premise, the book is successful: readers will be convinced of the existence of a religious Left. Pockets of progressive religion and its carriers sit in churches, on the border, in suburbia, on buses, in campaigns, and more. But the book’s longest-lasting success may resound even more so from contributors’ efforts to expose the undergirding structures of modern religion in action.”- Sociology of Religion

From the Publisher