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How British Quakers Make Choices About Time at the Beginning of the Twenty First Century

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How British Quakers Make Choices About Time at the Beginning of the Twenty First Century THE TEMPORAL COLLAGE: HOW BRITISH QUAKERS MAKE CHOICES ABOUT TIME AT THE BEGINNING OF THE TWENTY FIRST CENTURY by JUDY FRITH A thesis submitted to The University of Birmingham for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Theology and Religion School of Historical Studies The University of Birmingham August 2008 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT This thesis argues that people create their own ‘temporal collages’ in order to balance competing and conflicting demands for time. It uses British Quakers as a case study. From the mid-twentieth century to 2008 the nature of work and family life have changed considerably, and this thesis shows how British Quakers balance those worldly changes in order to remain faithful and involved with the Religious Society of Friends. The Society is in numerical decline, has no paid clergy and relies heavily on time given voluntarily as service. Democratised relationships enable commitment in friendship networks, and the research demonstrates how social capital is built in the much-valued Quaker communities to which Friends belong. The thesis also reveals how Friends choose those communities, and describes what they want from involvement and what they gain. Throughout the thesis, time is considered to be polychronic in order to accommodate the varied qualities given in Friends’ descriptions about time. Polychronic time is heterogeneous and includes the paradoxes, cycles, juxtapositions, interconnections and linear time (that of clocks and calendars). These diverse elements of time are drawn upon to build individualised and flexible constructs with priorities that vary from person to person and are adjusted throughout a lifetime according to circumstance and choice. The result is a temporal collage, a descriptive tool for the way in which individuals compile choices about time. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Completion of this thesis would not have been possible without the patient and creative encouragement of my supervisor Dr Pink Dandelion. The Higher Education Fund of the Adult Grants Group in Quaker Peace and Social Witness contributed financial support and the discipline of an annual review of my work. The interviewees and group participants who took part in the research taught me far more about what it means to be a Quaker than is shown in the analysis of the data. I am indebted to Jill Allum for her proof reading, questioning and faithful friendship. Conversations with other Quaker Studies students and contributors to The Quaker Condition (forthcoming) alleviated the isolation of study. This sharing and many others were sustaining for myself and inspiring for the study. CONTENTS ABSTRACT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS LIST OF TABLES LIST OF FIGURES CHAPTER 1 – INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 Chapter introduction 1 1.2 Thesis context: introduction 3 1.2.1 Decline in the volunteer workforce 4 1.2.2 Quaker volunteering (service) in the community 7 1.2.3 Social capital: introduction 8 1.2.4 Bonding and bridging social capital 11 1.2.5 Choice: introduction 14 1.2.6 Decision-making, gospel order and the individual 14 1.2.7 Decision-making in meetings for church affairs 19 1.2.8 Context summary 20 1.3 Relationship to previous work 20 1.3.1 Sociological research on work, family and community 20 1.3.2 Social capital 21 1.3.3 Sociological work on time 22 1.3.4 British research about volunteering 23 1.3.5 Quaker studies and Quaker publications 23 1.4 Thesis outline 25 1.5 Chapter summary 28 CHAPTER 2 – METHODOLOGY 29 2.1 Introduction 29 2.2 The insider perspective: its limits. Advantages and implications 30 2.2.1 Limitations of the insider role 30 2.2.2 Advantages of the insider role 32 2.2.3 Ethical considerations 34 2.2.4 Editorial control and the use of respondent validation 35 2.3 Defining the sample 36 2.3.1 The sample as case study 36 2.4 The sequence of the study 37 2.5 Qualitative research 39 2.5.1 Written and spoken data in the thesis text 39 2.6 Group work overview 39 2.6.1 The vignette study 40 2.6.1.1 The process 40 2.6.1.2 The vignette questionnaire 41 2.6.1.3 Group validation 43 2.6.1.4 Reflections on the vignette study 44 2.6.2 The participatory activities 44 2.6.2.1 The process 45 2.6.2.2 Group validation 46 2.6.2.3 Reflections on the activity 46 2.7 Recording the data 47 2.8 The interviews 49 2.8.1 Finding the sample 49 2.8.2 The questions 50 2.8.3 Taking notes 51 2.8.4 The interviews 52 2.8.5 E-interviews 53 2.8.6 Reflections on the interview process 54 2.9 Data analysis and writing up 55 2.9.1 Feedback and theory development 57 2.10 Chapter summary 58 CHAPTER 3 – TIME 59 3.1 Introduction 59 3.2 Clock time 59 3.3 Holy busyness 60 3.4 Where does time go? 62 3.4.1 Allocating time 63 3.5 Beyond clock time 65 3.5.1 The secular, the spiritual and the religious 66 3.5.2 Group responses 70 3.6 Quaker polychronicity 71 3.7 Summary 72 CHAPTER 4 – SERVICE AND WITNESS 77 4.1 Introduction 77 4.2 Giving time to the Society: how Quaker service is organised 78 4.2.1 A priesthood of all believers 81 4.2.2 Appointment to task: nominations committees 82 4.2.3 The Quaker business method 82 4.3 Quakers and bonding social capital: being a Quaker in the local Quaker community 83 4.3.1 The central role of Meeting for Worship 85 4.3.2 Reasons for not going to Meeting for Worship 86 4.3.3 The role of the structure in bonding the group 86 4.3.4 When bonds fracture 91 4.3.5 Informal bonding activities 92 4.3.6 Summary 94 4.4 Service within Britain Yearly Meeting: how bonding social capital 94 acts as bridging social capital within the Religious Society of Friends 94 4.5 Friends’ service and voluntary work in the wider community 101 4.5.1 Discreet witness 102 4.5.2 Volunteering in the community 105 4.5.3 Summary 112 4.6 Time and social capital 112 4.7 Summary 114 CHAPTER 5 – TIME AND PAID WORK 116 5.1 Introduction 116 5.2.1 The changing nature of work 117 5.2.2 Summary 121 5.3 Work and identity 122 5.4 Time and paid work 123 5.5.1 Reflections on busy Britain 124 5.5.2 Summary 126 5.5.3 Busyness service and faithfulness 126 5.6.1 Self-employment 128 5.6.2 Summary 131 5.7.1 Part time work and temporary contracts – Quakers as a ‘flexible workforce’ 131 5.7.2 Part time work as a step to, or in place of, full time employment 131 5.7.3 Choosing to work part time 132 5.8 Women and paid work 133 5.9 Retired Friends 136 5.10 Chapter summary 137 CHAPTER 6 – FAMILY AND FRIENDSHIP 140 6.1 Introduction 140 6.2 Family in transition 141 6.3 Family and identity 143 6.4 Changing views on relationship 146 6.4.1 Attitudes to women 147 6.4.2 Comments from children 151 6.4.3 Summary 151 6.5 Quakerism and couples 152 6.5.1 Being married to another Quaker 152 6.5.2 Partners and cohabitees in the Religious Society of Friends 154 6.5.3 Limitations of the SQUIF typology 155 6.5.4 Summary 158 6.6 Balancing care responsibilities and Quakerism 159 6.6.1 Intergenerational care 160 6.7 Options for Quaker children 165 6.8 Friendship networks as the new family 168 6.8.1 The value of friendship 169 6.9 The growth of Quaker friendship networks 173 6.9.1 Involvement from childhood 173 6.9.2 Convinced Friends and friendship networks 176 6.9.3 Summary 177 6.10 Family, friendship, time and belonging 177 CHAPTER 7 – NETWORKED COMMUNITY 179 7.1 Introduction 179 7.2 What community means to Friends 180 7.2.1 The significance of community 180 7.2.3 The plurality of significant communities 181 7.2.4 The challenge of community 182 7.3 Rites of institution in the Religious Society of Friends 183 7.3.1 The wrapped nature of Quaker rites 184 7.3.2 How interviewees accessed the rites 186 7.3.3 Moving to the edge – low commitment beyond the rites of institution 190 7.3.4 Summary 192 7.4 Finding a place in the Quaker community 193 7.4.1 Negotiating the hub 193 7.4.2 Negotiating the rim 196 7.4.3 Summary 198 7.5 Individualism, communitarianism and social capital 199 7.5.1 Two examples of networked community 200 7.5.2 Polychronic commonalities: how networks of belonging foster social capital 202 7.5.3 Building trust 205 7.5.4 Networked communitarianism, friendship networks and individualism 206 7.5.5 Summary 212 7.6 Chapter summary 214 CHAPTER 8 – MAKING CHOICES 215 8.1 Introduction 216 8.2 The spiritual element of personal decision-making 216 8.2.1 The spiritual as part of everyday life 216 8.2.2 Discernment 217 8.2.3 Clearness meetings 220 8.2.4 Summary 223 8.3 The challenge of choice: balance and busyness 223 8.3.1 Busyness: deciding priorities 224 8.3.2 Holy busyness: guilt and duty in the decision-making process 226 8.3.3 Fun and satisfaction 227 8.3.4 Longevity of service 228 8.3.5 Summary 229 8.4 What volunteers want: a review of current research 229 8.4.1 Summary 232 8.5 Gifts and skills: faith, human capital and social capital 233 8.5.1 Seeking skills and nurturing gifts 234 8.5.2 Training and social capital 236 8.5.3 Social networks and skills acquisition 237 8.5.4 Summary 239 8.6 Choice and the nominations process 241 8.6.1 The work of the nominations committee 241 8.6.2 How Friends position themselves for avoidance,
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