"The dilemmas of social movement identity and the case of the Voice of " by Patricia Ewick and Marc W. Steinberg
 

Sociology

The dilemmas of social movement identity and the case of the Voice of the Faithful

Document Type

Article

Abstract

This article focuses on the dilemmic nature of identity for challengers within organizations and on their emergent responses. It is based on ethnographic research of one affiliate of Voice of the Faithful, a group of Catholics that formed in the wake of the clergy sexual abuse crisis. The abiding faith of the group and their commitment to change the church created a dilemma that encapsulates the central question of this article: how do challengers pursuing change of an institution balance commitment and critique, mainstream membership and otherness? Internal challengers manage these dilemmas by rescripting existing stories and telling novel ones to navigate group boundaries and formulate new understandings of their individual and collective pasts, presents, and futures. We trace the ways in which challengers work through contradictions and ambiguity in their emergent identities. This provides an opportunity to explore the existential dimensions of collective identity and focus on the processual nature of storytelling.

Publication Title

Mobilization

Publication Date

6-2014

Volume

19

Issue

2

First Page

209

Last Page

227

ISSN

1086-671X

DOI

10.17813/maiq.19.2.a566816646930227

Keywords

collective action, social movements, democracy

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