......

THEOLOGICAL CRUCIBLES:

SOCIAL MOVEMENTS IN AND OF RELIGION*

Mayer N. Zald

University of Michigan

October 1981 ......

CRSO Working Paper No. 247 Copies available through: Center for Research on Social Organization 330 Packard Street Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109 I 11. Paulmuglass Lecture, Religious Research Association, October, 1981

Theological Crucibles: Social Ilovements in and of Religion

Mayer N. Zald Professor of Sociology and Social Work University of Michigan Theological Crucibles:

Social Movements in and of Religionb By their nature, rcligious organizations are deeply involved with theological , and ideological beliefs about the relation of individuals and groups to each

other, to society, and to the good and just life. Changes in belief systems

in tltc larger society arc bound to enter the internal life of denominations,

and, in turn, beliefs developed within religious organizations become the

basis for action in the larger society.

This paper examines the and political processes which are

the carricrs through which changes in beliefs are implemented. First, we H. Paul Douglass Lecture Mayer N. Zald examine the relation of the rise and fall of classes and groups in a world- October, 1981 University of Michigan Baltinnre, Md. ~oughDraft: Not for economy to social movements. Then, building upon a general framework for the Quotation analysis of social movements in organizations, a series of proposi.tions are

developed about the causes and consequences of different kinds of social

nwvcments in denominations. The focus is upon mass movements and small scale

insurrections in different church politics. Religious denominations evidence

a variety of political structures and processes and are especially suitable

sites for this kind of analysis.

*Acknowledgements. I am indebted to Aldon Morris and James R. Wood for their comments on an earlier vcrsion of this paper. Production of the paper has been facilitated by an NIMll Training Grant (NH-l459B), in Sociology and Social Policy. Prefatory Remarks Introduction

Pick up the "religion page" of any metropolitan newspaper. Alongside

It is with a great deal of humility that I deliver this lecture. reports of ministers departing and arriving, of church socials, of special

As a young assistant professor at the University of , I began a seudy services, of new buildings constructed or planned, will be reports of stands

of the YMCA, the Young Men's Christian Association. Early in that study, of churches on controversial topics. There will be resolutions taken at

as I tried to understand that quintessential inter-denominational protestant national assemblies to begin unilateral disarmament. There'will be reports

'organization, its ties to mainline Protestantism and its evolution over of'contests among Southern Baptists over the election .de a controversial

time, I came across and was impressed with the work of H. Paul Douglass. 1 president. There may be reports of church funding of guerrillas in Latin I I.am honored to be asked to deliver this lecture in his memory. / Americg or Africa, reports of fights over gay ministers or female ministors.

I am honored in yet another way. I have never thought of myself as a There may be discussion of conservative schismatic movements in the Catholic Church. For the last year and a half, we cannot avoid knowing that sociologiot of religion or as a student of religious organizations. My ;

major interests related to this topic have been in the sociology of organi- the Catholic Church in Poland has been at the same the a major institutional

' zations and of social movements., Yet during my 13 year tenure at Vanderbilt base of nationalistic dissent& a moderating force on that dissent,

' University I was lucky to have a number of doctoral students, usually ministers, attempting to avoid the consequences of excess which would lead to a ferocious

ex-ministers, or ex-ministry students, who had deep commitments to the study attack by the Russian ear.' During that time period, we in the West were

of religious organizations. To 0. Kendall White. Kenneth Westhues, Hart Nelsen, at first surprised, then awed, then chagrined by the ability of Islam in

Robert Adams, Dean Bolden, and especially James R. Wood, I owe what little Iran to lead a revolution, then seize control, and then humiliate the United

knwledge I have of religious organizations. I also owe them and scholars States. Over a longer period of time we would have had to notice a stran$e

such as Peter Takayama and Ross Scherer a theoretical scholar's special debt. reversal... Anyone observing the Catholic church in Latin America in the

There is a great inter-generational chain in scholarship--the young scholar early 1950s would have seen it as a bastion of support for the established

integrates and steps off from the evidence and ideas of his progenitors and order. By the 1980's it is so identified with support of the peasants,

puts forth his ideas for his peers and the next generations. One owes a that Bishops are marked for assassination while they celebrate the daily mass.

great deal to one's progenitors--but it is a marvelous feeling to know that During this time frame--the period 1950-1980--;ociology in general would

one's work has been useful to the next generation of students and to peers have had, a strangely bemused relation to the study of 'things religious. On

as they attempt to understand and grapple with their central intellectual the one hand, many of the most interesting early concepts and worke in

'concerns. So to that group of students and peers, many of whom have done sociology were preoccupied with religious topics, and the value of sociology

significant work in the area of my talk tonight, I thank you. could be ohown in its ability to explicate exotic processes-- from Durkheim's within churches. While the two kinds of phenomena are at different levels Elementary Forms of Religious Life to the studies of the church-sect- of analysis, they are interrelated. Stated differently, and with concrete . process by Troeltsch, Weber, Wachs and 11. Richard Nicbuhr. On the examples, the movement within specific churches concerned with biblical other hand, the sociolqy of religion seemed to be essentially anachronistic inerrancy is related to the election of Ronald Reagan, the attempt to rodernize in an increasingly secularizpd society. If, as many sociologists and others Islam in Iran that occurred for more than a decade prior to the Shah's believed, science, technology, and modernism led to both the death of God overthrow, relates to his downfall (Alidoost, 198011 the spread of feminism and the decline in church attendance, why study a declining institution in.America is part of the explanation of the conflicts within churches over and belief set? The events of world and of American politics surely indicate the ordination of women; reactions to modernism vary in protestant and the strength of church-religious related institutions. Moreover, national Catholic churches, but they are both connected to social change and'reactions and international politics aside, into the vessels of religions and the re- to change in the societies in which these churches are embedded. The ligious have been poured competing and contrasting wines of cultural and analytical thrust of these two sections is somewhat different-- the first moral aspiration. Just as sociologists have been led by events to recognize to discuss religion and churches as actors in the larger society, the second the endurance of ethnic and racial cleavages, so too have they been forced to explain variation within religious organization in the size and location to rethink the endurance and viability of religious institutions. Under- of social movements and the responsc of denaninations to these internal , standing the dynamics of change in religious organizations and the interplay social movements. Justhw.they are related, we will return to in the conclusion. of religion and religious change with the larger society is a prime topic--

both for scholarly and policy related purposes. Global (dis)'order, re1 igious movements and resource mobilization. This paper will proceed at two distinct, though inter-twined, levels.

First, we will discuss the impact of religious related movements on social In the last decade, Wendell Wilkie's catch phrase of the 1940.~1, "one

and pol.itica1 change. In particular, we are interested in the relation of world," has become the cornerstone of historical-sociolcqical analysis.

religion related organizations and personnel to changing class, inter-group, The key question has become how do classes and nations relate to the global'

and inter-national relations. We will attempt to link a schema that argues growth and transformition of capitalism,'industrles and political systcms.

how religious movements are tied to the global capitalist economy to what is In the works of Perry Anderson, Emmanuel Wallefstein, Samir lunin, Andero

called the resource mobilization theory of social movements. Second, in the Gunner Frank and others, local social structures, class relations and en-

major part of the paper, we will turn inward, examining the forces that create compassing broader political forms are treated as intertwined with systemic

social movements and political conflict within religious organizations. properties of the spread of capitalism, competition amongst rising and falling centers, and the continuing transfonnation'of capitalism itself. If one . You will have noticed that the 'newspaper list" with which I began examines an even broader reach of history (prc-capitalism). it would be clear that included examples of religious bodies attempting to affect national and inter-

national politics, and I also included cases of conflict and social wvements the rise and fall of empires, the centralization and fragmentation of structure of world order have characteristically produced, and in' turn have polities has continuinq effects upon local groups, the strength and nature been nurtured by, exceptional outpourings of religious activity." (p. 57) of their religions. But most sociologists of religion treat social change at the local or national

World systems theory argues that "core" nations, those that dominate level. And they have not been able to account for tho timing of religious and lead capitalist world production, have a different internal social movements. Wuthnow believes that the timing is partly related to the changing

structure than peripheral or semi-peripheral nations, those that are caught structure of the world 'economy, the existence of center and peripheral up in trade or resource extraction with core nations, but which are weak relations, the polarization of centers and the amount of conflict between and "backward" in relation to tlie core. Moreover, the politics and processea center and periphery. "Three kinds of periods have in particular given withill the core nations spill over, have effects exwrted that impact On the rise to intense religious activity. (a) Periods in which the dominant periphery. Immigration policy, customs, licensing arrangements, industrial world order has expanded rapidly to the point of producing strain in tlie basic dcvclopment, all relate to position in a world economy. Of course, at a institutions linking tcqether core and periphery areas; (b) pcriods of

later point in time, the periphery may become the center (the U.S.A.). Holland, overt polarization and conflict between core and periphuryj and (c) pariods

Spain and the Hapsburg empire were core nations at one point in time. Britain,

Prance, a11d Germany at another, the U.S. and Japan joined the center at a

latcr point. . .

Robert Wuthnow (1980) has recently attempted to show how a seemingly

discrete group of religious phenomena can be understood or ordered in terms

of their linkage to global processes. I cannot do justice to his provocative

and rich analysis in this brief space, but let me touch upon the highlights

of his approach. Ile discusses the following forms of religious expression

(many of which you will be familiar with)-- revitalization movements, reformation,

religious militancy, counter-reform, religious accomodation, and sectarianism.

Wuthnow begins from a position that well summarizes,what traditional

sociology of religion has had to say about the relation of social change to

religion.

"Croups whose lives have been intruded upon by the expanding world- economy have sought refuge in the security of religion. Rising cadres have

legitimated their new status with religious creeds. Basic changes in the in which newly stabilized patterns of world order are being reconstituted." (p. 62) Moreovec, the evolution of revitalization relates to the kind of

(p. 59) Populations, classes, and their elites have different power and expansion experienced. Where commercial expansion has been accompanied by rising and falling status as they stand in relation to the world order. settlement colonies, revitalization movements have tended to be short-lived

They define their problems and shape their religious orientations, at least due to the reorganization or extinction of native populations. Where expansion in part, in terms of their relation to the underlying world economy. has occurred througl~the incorporation of domstic lower classes into new

How does this framtwork help explain the specific kinds of religious occupational roles, thesc movements have generally involved into established exi>rossion listed above? religious organizations.

Revitalization movements are'attempts to collectively restore or re- Reformations. Wuthnow argues that there have been three major ideological

'construct patterns of life that have been rapidly disrupted or threatened. reformations since the inception of the modern world order: the Protestant

The main varieties include nativistic movements (purifying from alien customs Reformation, the Enlightenment, and the growth of Ilarxism. Each institution- or persons) , revivalistic movements (recreating simpler styles of life), alized a fundamental redefinition of ultimate reality. He argues that each cargo cults, millcnarian movements and messianic movements. Wuthnow notes of these reformations have been carried by rising elites in peripheral areas that social disruption does not automatically lead to these movements. during periods of rapid expansion'in the world system. The distinctive

Natural disasters and tho devastation of war, for instance, are not accompanied . ideological coherence of each global reformation inhered in its opposition by revitalistic movements. 'Instead, Wuthnow argues, they are most likely to the sacred assumptions uhderlying the prevailing world order-- Church as when the changing world economy leads local elites no longer to be as integrated harlot, mercantilist protection as inimical to national wealth, bourgeois and dependent upan the local population. He argues that the Anabaptists culture as false consciousness. emorged as the local elites (territorial'landlords and city magistrates of I could continue to present Wuthnow's argument--for instance, ho argues the German States) bccause of their greater power and opportunities, abrogated that counter-reformations occur among institutional representatives in coro traditional relations of peasants to the land and of contractual relations. areas undergoing polarization8 religious militancy occurs in peripheral areas

Hc further argues that the diversity of vitalistic forms is related to the when the core powers are weakened and unable to crush these'revolutionary disparatc nature of local customs and social structure and the way the ex- organizational forms, religious accomoclation occurs where a new order is , panding world economy impacts upon the local structure. "For example, re- being institutionalized; and sectarianism where a group's powers are declining vitalistic movements that stress individual salvation and piety, such as in relation to a newly institutionalized world order. I find his analysis early Methodism, have beon more common where individuals have been displaced not only provocative, but in the main quite convincing. But I want to turn

.from traditional groups and incorporated separately into new economic contexts. .to a level df analysis that is compatible with his and, indeed, is treated

III contrast, cargo cults and nativistic movements have been more likely where in passing in his analysis, but which is not treated very systematically-- whole groups havc been collectively displaced, as among North American Indians." the organization and mobilization of groups. to some degree. Some of the costs include the time and money that must . Let me state the issue starkly: Wo societies or groups equally im- be spent in this activity, as contrasted with other potential uses of time pacted by expanding cores will differ in their response depending upon the and money. Other costs come from negative social control-- governmental structure of local associatio~>sand institutions. Thus the mobilization and non-governmental repression, social sanctions for being seen as a and spread of cargo cults, for instance, depends not only on the amount of "deviant" or "troublemaker." Benefits include social support, and the disruption (the grievance base) but also upon the associational forms in possibilities of attaining status and careers through participation. . those societies and their interlinkage and capacity for mobilization. To 2.' Social movements axe plagued with what economists call 'the collective gibe another example,, the fundamentalist reaction to modernism has been around goods' problems (Olson). In a nutshell, since the social movement often works for some time. For most of the last century it would have been treated as for changes in laws that will effect or apply to everyone in a group or a sectarian response of marginal and impoverished groups. It takes on a category, individuals will benefit, whether or not tl~eybear the costs of militancy and an attack on the largcrsociety only as technological changes participating. (This is called the free-ridor problem.) Small groups (e.g., the growth of the electronic church, the rise of mass mailing campaigns), overcome the free-rider problem by using social control mechanisms. Groups and as resource bases (the increasing affluence of sun belt communities may also use selective incentives to motivate participation. They may draw since the end of World War 11 with large and increasingly non-poor support

, members into participation by offering social rewards (e.g., friendship . baso) expand. A resource mobilization approach should be helpful in under- with like minded people, avocational benefits, as in the Sierra Club), standing both the growth of'religion movemenband the use of religion or- or economic benefits aimed at individuals, such as inexpensive insurance or ganization and resources in the political process. wholesale goods. (For instance, in the nineteenth century, the Mormons What do I mean by a resource mobilization approach to these issues? recruited members in Denmark by offering cheap passage and help in getting The resource mobilization perspective has emerged in recent years as a major established in the United States.) alternative to traditional collective behavior and deprivation or grievance

' oriented approaches to the study of collective action. Major contributors ! 3. There exists a wide number of resources that must bo mobilized; time, '

are Tilly, McCarthy and Zald, Salisbury, Olson, and Oberschall. It does not money, facilities (meeting places, mimeograph machines), access to media.

deny that grievances exist. Ilor does it deny that actors with grievances Groups differ in their control of these resources. Resources may be obtained

can be mobilized into social movements. It does argue that a focus upon from "conscience constitutents" or other parties who believe or support

grievances has often led scholars to miss the central social processes that the cause. White students with discretionary time (they don't havo to

help create and sustain social movements. Its central tenets can be stated support a family or show up in class) can help save the whales or support the

as a series of assumptions and propositions. black cause.

1. Participants in social movement activity do not blindly react to de- 4. The mobilization of resources requires knowledge. Social movement

privations. They weigh the costs and benefits of participation, at least access to an audience. activities are social--they are based upon learning techniques and tactics

NOW, how does all this help expand Wuthnow's analysis? Remetubor, that of acting together. Thus, groups with prior experience of collective action, Wuthnw essentially argues that it is the position of groups, and classes with an infra-structure of social relations that are mobilized for other and communities in the world political economy that shape the rise and fall purposes, can be more easily mobilized for social movement activities thah of religious movements. I am arguing that not only position in the world groups or populations without such networks. Infra-structures reduce the economy, but the internal structure of these groups,conditions the social cost of mobilization. (It should be noted that the infra-structures may not movement potentiality. bo available for any purpose whatsoever. They may be gate keeps for their

use who must be convinced of the legitimacy of use.)

Moreover, prior experience increases the repertoire of social movement

tactics. Non-violence as a philosophy has to be translated into experience

with coping with police who are beating you on the head and putting you

into jail. Repertoires can be innovated, but prior experience eases their

use. (As an aside, do Soviet dissidents teach each other how to smuggle

. manuscripts out of the Soviet Union?)

5. Finally, a differentiated social structure with rjroups offering rewards

and career paths to cadre and leaders, raises the possibility of social

movement careers and career options. People with equal ideological commitment

vary in the costs and benefits of acting upn those commitments. Ministers

have much discretionary time and have easy access to media and potential

follwors. Once a religious chooses an evangelistic or political definition

of his religious commitment, as contrasted with a pietistic or pastoral

commitment, his professional career is congruent with social movement entre-

preneurship. The Black middle class school teacher or funeral parlor under-

taker may feel the injustice of the larger society equally to the black

minister. The school teacher may be sanctioned by the white cmunity, the

undertaker lacks access to a large audience--the minister may be relatively

insulated from imnediate white pressure (short of violence) and still has A second way that a religious organization may affect the readiness without going into great detail, let me suggest a number of guidelines to participate in political social movements is more indirect. Participation (actually hypotheses) that may aid us. and religious fervor at one point in time leaves traditions and memories 1. Disruptions of peripheral groups will not automatically lead to re- of revolt. Hobsbawm shows that Southern ~tall'anvillages differed in tll+ir vitalistic movements. Instead, the response of these groups will depend upon readiness to accept comunist organizersafter the Second World War. One tlreir Internal social structure, the forms of their religious-political factor that separated villages was whether they had had prior experience integration, thrir vertical linkages to the larger social structure, and the Oberschall has with mellenarian movements. Where, for instance, the Lazarreti had been social control strategies of the expanding dominant powers. strong, the communists were seen as their successors. Paige notes that the proposed a typology of vertical and horizontal linkages among groups that areas of high revolt potential in the early stages of the Vietnm insu'rgency helps interpret these relations. Carroll's (1975) provocative quantitative were areas where sectarian activity had been high in the 1930s. (Paige study of the Buffalo dances, a 19th century American Indian re~i~alisti~ largely treats this as suggesting something in the nature of capitalist- movement, stresses tho role of deprivation and.mmmunity integration in colonial penetration, but the possibility that the earlier sect creatod (1979) adds to his analysis the role understanding this mvement. Landesman traditions of revolt is not excluded.) of government land allotment policies, which served to break Up c0"u"ity Nagel's study of the role of ~frican 3. solidarity as another relevant variable. Religious organizations provide key discretionary resources to social movements. Discretionary resources are those resources that may be easily voluntary associations as channels for political action is another such study. . . shifted fran one use to another1 e.g.. the time and effort of students or Roligious organizations provide an infra-structure for later social movement First, they provide adults who don't have to account for their use of timc, money that is not activity. They do this in at least two different ways. committed to specific usages, and so on. In Chicago, Alit~ky-type communal a repertoire of skills and a protected social structure, so that when a larger' defense organizations have the most staying power where the Catholic church political ideology and movement impinge upon the group, the religious or- E. J. Hobsbawm has des- has provided a base. The commitment of a local pastor to community defense ganizations and personnel can easily be mobilized. is vital. The Civil Rights moveinent was heavily dependent upon black ministers cribed how the Primitive Methodists became major training grounds and fa- and black students. What is less well-known is that some black churches, cilitators of labour radicalism in proletarian villages in England, Scotland, what are called University churches, were crucial to their mobilization. and Wales. The Primitive Methodists downplayed the role of formal training Aldon Morris has shown how these churches near Black campuses provided key for the ministry. Their chapels encouraged members to become preachers and (A third of the members ministerial and student leadership. to take leadership in encouraging others to convert. Moreover, the ministers were linked r\ . . to each other across cities. might preach in their own chapel and work to convert others and preach elsewhere.)

Moreovcr, the religion participation creates networks of relations and similarities

of perception that help unify later behavior. 4. Transformation of theology and ideology provide a base for justifying these changes have been accompanied by bitter struggles. Church authorities social movement activity. The movement for abolition of slavery was related may lead the battle for new definitions, but may be resisted by traditionalistsr to tho revivalistic movement of the early part of the 19th century. It changed heresy trials may occur, though the heretics become the progenitors of ideas the'meaning of souls and salvation. Not o~ilydid the burnt-over districts accepted a generation laterr schisms occurr authorities may repress and banish have more pro-abolitionist support, but evangelists and theologians were led dissidents. How are we to understand, to analyze, these internal conflicts? to change their concel~tionof right action. Religion may be the opiate of There is in fact a substantial body of literature that deals with the masses under some conditions, but under other conditions it serves as these issues, especially in Protestant denominations. . Sociologists of religion, a sword for assassination. The transformation of the role of the Catholic such as Jeffrey Iladden, James R. Wood, and Peter Takayama, have examined church in Latin America and the role of Islam in Iran can only be understood conflict in Protestant denominations, especially as it has related to policies by attention to these changes in theological justifications. And, on the other related to racial integration and to civil rights issues. Numerous histories hand, it is only by seeing these transformations of ideology and theology in can be found that deal with conflict within churches. Robert Mams has written historical context that we can understand the deep intertwined roots of this

logical and social change. '

Our more general point, however, is that a marriage of resource mobilization tlleory with world systems anaiysis of the type proposed by Wuthnw will allow us to fine-tune our understanding of the rise of major religious movements.

World, and national events impinge upon local social structures and institutions.

But thesc local social structures themselves vary in their potential for facilitating religious movements.

Social Movements in '~eligiousOrganization

To this point, I have glossed over the conflict within religions that occurs when they mobilize to change the society or to change religion.

I have, for instance, treated the transformation of theology in the Catholic church and in Islam as a bodiless phenomena, the emergence of the civil rights movement in the black church as a kind of painless new consensus.

Even tho most cursory examination of church history.leads us to be aware that all impressive, tliougl~largely unknown, dissertation on heresy trials in 3del of organizations, which sees organizations as bounded groups of indi-

American ProtestantScminaries.Here I will summarize an organizational model iduals, harnessed together by incentives and comnitments to a relatively

for understanding conflict in religious organizations. I will then review nall set of goals (some of which may be conflicting), yet open to new

an approach I have developed for social movements in organizations in general ressures from the environnw+nt as it both obtains resources and inputs to

and draw out its implications for the study of social movements in religious hat environment and attempts to affect its constituent parts and its environ-

org?nizations. Finally, I will indicate what are to me some of the most ent. Now, one could write a text-book expanding that sentence, explaining

pressing issues in the study of these social movements. akh term and drawing out its implications. My own approach to organlzat!ons,

he political economy approach, is a variant of open-systems models, that

Organizational theory and conflict in churches. ocuses upon what I consider the jugular veins of organizational structure

nd process. (Some think I focus upon the capillaries, others, the There are many competing theories or approaches to the study of or- keleton ah, well). ganizations. Organizations can be thought of as closed optimizing systems --

I Very schematically, the political ecokany approach examines the (what is sometimes called the machine model of organizations); they can - overnance-control structures and problems of organizations and the task- be thought of in cybernetic terms; they can be thought of as coordinating reduction system of the organization. Organizations may be analyzed in devices for the attainment of human potential, or as barriers to self-

actualization; organization8 can be thought of as bureaucracies, or as erms of their external political connections and prohlems, the gaining of egitimation and support of authorities and external power centers and their approximating the Weberian bureaucratic ideal-type. Each of these approaches xternal economic structures and processes, the labor markets, financial will help us understand something about organizations. What my colleague, esource flows, competitive markets, etc. Internally, organizations vary Cay1 Ness, calls the central event of the last century, the long march of n their constitutions, their power structures, processes of succession, tho bureaucrats, as governmental and private organizations develop offices, nd mechanisms of control (budgets, decision centers, etc.) They also vary administration of routine function, record keeping, limited discretion, n their internal economies, technologies, division of labor, problems of obviously has effected churches as forms of organization. The growth of central

ransforming raw materials, etc. (Zald, 1970 a & b; Wmsley and Zald, 1973 records, of church pension programs, of publishing houses, of staff pro- .nd 1976). fessionals dealing with everything from church architecture and fund-raising, Peter Takayama and James R. Wood have used open-system theory and their to Sunday school administration, curriculum planning, and on and on, ob- wn versions of political-economy to ana1y;e conflict, rebellion, and authority viously presents a source of strain between amateur and professional, between .esponse in'the face of conflict in Protestant denaninations. (See Wood and .local autonomy and central authority. ;aid, 19671 Wood, 1970 , Takayama, 1980, 1978, 1979 Yet none of these models or approaches, it seems to me, is as powerful ) What are the variables that have emerged as central in this account? in explaining and understanding church conflict as the open or natural system incentive is to achieve right living. Solidary incentives include the social 1. Congregational versus Episcopal or Presbyterian polity structure. This and communal sense of associating with similar mit~dedpeople. Tllese incentives is essentially a measure of the centralization or dispersion of control and cluster at different social locations. Professionals and deeply committed power in religious organizations. It is not a very subtle measure and for cadre are mst likely to be motivated by purposive incentives, solidary many detailed purposes of understanding church polity, it misses the relations incentives are more likely to dominate laymen in local congregations. Tt~e of specific church bodies and processes. Yet, for many comparative analyses, matter is obviously more complicated than this, but an understanding of it is extremely robust. It encapsulates a nwnber of more specific dimensions incentive balances is important for understanding why conflict takes place, of church polity-- including the authoritative control of church buildings, who initiates it; the process of dealing with it, and the direction of outcomes. the appointment of ministers, the readiness to follow central authority policy Since solidary incentives are so important in maintaining member commit- decisions, the self-perceived power of church authorities to act on their own, ment, especially in Protestant denominations, there is a temptation for and so on. The whole issue of policy choice differs between Congregational ministers in local congregations to avoid conflict, if they holieve there and Episcopal churches. When the central bodies of Episcopal churches make is dissensus or heterogeneity in relation to the issue. The issue of homo- a choice, it commits the constituents. Not so in Congregational. geneity and heterogeneity is important within congregations in understanding

2. Autonomy - vulnerability. Denominations and churches develop many church conflict at the local level, and between congregations at the de-

Unlike a division of a business corporation, which differentiated agencies. 'nominational or pan-congregation level. In particular, and most dramatically,

is fully and almost disposable by the Corporate headquarters, these differentiated those denominations that spanned regions, north and south, have faced tre-

agencies have complex constitutional linkages to the larger church or de- mendous conflict whenever an eventual schism, whenever abolitionism and

nomination. The Society of Jesus is part of the Roman Catholic Church, but civil'rights related issues have emerged and penetrated the churcl~es.

over long periods of time has had great autonomy. The Lutheran Seminary The history of conflict over race-related matters in the period form the late

run by the Missouri Lutheran Synod on the other hand, was vulnerable to 1950s to the early 1970s, is awesomely foreshadowed in the history of some

Mr. Preus' intervention. Autonomy-vulnerability is effected by funding of 'these same denominations or their forefathers in the period 1840-1060.

sources, by buffering mechanisms in the.se1ection of personnel, and in the 4. Environmental relations. Church conflict relates to environmental factors review of organizational performance, and by the visibility-invisibility of in at least two different ways. First, conflict in the larger society,

agency production. ' concern about various aspects of social change, is imported into the or-

3. Incentive-balances. Every organization varies in its mix of incentives. ganization through the interest-value preferences of lay menbars and pro-

Church organizations may offer material incentives (wages, business contacts), fessional staff. To the extent that the religious organization is not

but fundamentally they use purposive and solidary (communal) incentives. sealed off from the larger society through ethnic and cormnunal structures

~urpdsiveiiclude moral incentives and social redemption and changei the that insulate it, it is difficult for the church to avoid becomi~~gembroiled. As moral and ideological organizations par excellence, it is relatively

0. Kendall White is in the process of documenting the way in which the easy for mmbers and staff to justify organizational involvemcl~tin the issues

feminist movement impacts on the Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints. of the day (unlike a bowling club, or a dry cleaner, for instance). Environ-

mental relations also effect internal church politics through anotl~erchannel.

Denominations sanetimes join inter-denominational organizations. The grounds

for joining may be theological, ecumenical, or more purely practical (e.9.. the

need for economies of scale and the benefits oP coordination in everything

fran pension management to missionary activities). But once joined, the actions

of the coalition partner, the inter-denominational organization, filters

back, commits the denomination to activities it might not have desired, which

in turn creates internal conflict.

When the World Council of Churches established a program to "relateU

to guerrillas in Namibia, Protestant denominations in the South, and else-

where, find themselves funding an abomination.

Much of the,above discussion is based on the work o'f IVmd and Takayama,

ties back to an open systems-political econany model of organizations, and

is based upon systematic evidence from both case studies and comparative

research. We now know a great deal about conflict in Protestant denominations,

about the conditions for schism, and so on. But I have not explorcd the

variables systematically. Stated another way, I have introduced important

variables, but I have not explicated the dependent or independent variables

in a systematic manner. There are many forms of social movement phenomena

in organizations. They range from coup debtat and small insurgencies to

nmss insurrection and organizational civil war. In recent years, I have ,

been devoting tiraw to a specific aspect of the wre general political economy

model -- that of social movements in organizations. I think it helps order

or frame the specific work in social movements in religious organizations.

Let me describe it briefly, and then show how it establishes a base for comparative rcscarch and thinking.about social movements in religious Finally, collective actions differ in their goals -- are the me~ers organizations. or cadre out to revolutionize the system, effecting a massive transfer of

power and transformation of the total system? Or are tho goals merely to Social Movements in Organizations: The Analogy to the Larger Society change one specific policy of the society, say, the import duties 011

Students of social movements in society have used a variety of labels silk stockings?

and dimensions to differentiate them. It is obvious that a general strike, Or, the goals may be less specific, yet fall short of calling f0r.a

closing down all services and industries, is different from a wildcat strike total transformation. The goals may call for the transformation of one'

in one plant. It differs in the number of participants, the amount of co- sector of policy, say, reform of Income tax law, or a changing relation

ordination and organization required, its likely duration, and so on. from one group, say, the transformation of how blacks or Native

Three common dimensions used to analyze collective actions such as strikes, are 'treated.

are breadth, or number of participants, duration, or length of time parti- It should be apparent that this range of social movement activity

, cipants are engaged in the action, and intensity, the severity-cost of the in the larger society is repeated, by analogy, in organizations. Some

individual collective actions. It is obvious that each of.these can vary conflicts 'in organizations ~onsistof small-scale insurrections or insurgencies,

. somewhat indcpcndontly and is itself more complex. The number of parti- as when a small number of members of a denomination pross for a change in

ci.pants can go up and dwni. duration can consist of one long collective the prayers that are usedi .or, on the other hand, in a mass insurrection,

action, or more sporadic events (contrast a plant that has marly wild-cat after first attempting to change major policy, an organizational civil war

strikes with one that has one long strike); intensity can include acts of breaks out, ending in schisms. Likewise, there may be coup d'btat attempts,

violence and property and personal destruction, or it can be restricted to as when the head of a seminary is forced out, or there is an attcmpt to

symbolic acts-carrying signs. force out a chief executive.

Social movements differ in their location in the social structure. Michael Berger and I (AJS 1978) have attempted to systematically

People lower in the stratification system have different resources and are develop this analogy. In that paper we were thinking about organizations

mobilizable by different tactics. A middle class pressure group differs in general1 that is, we thought it applied as woll to social movement-like

from a working class group in its access to authorities, in the financial phenomena in universities, business corporations, unions, churches, public

resources it controls, in the repertoiro of tactics that it commands. bureaucracies, voluntary associatings, and 80 on. ' Not that we believe that

And a lumpen-proletariat group will differ from a working class group in every organization has exactly similar processes. Quite the contrary;

its forms of social organizations, tactics and resources. broad diffetences in authority structure, in incentives, in size, will

lead to different rates and forms of social movements in different kinds

of organizations. For instance, business corporations are more likely to have a coup d'btat than organizations with dernocratic polities. Cor- porations are hierarchical and chief executives can eliminate dissidents

if the dissidents make themselves too openly known. You don't have coup attempts in universities because the subordinates, the professors, have

tenure and feel less threatened by reprisals. There are cases where

professors have signed petitions to ask for the removal of a president'.

In' the one case I kn& of, where senior executives tried to. petition for the

removal of the corporation president, he fought back and forced several of them to resign. (Among other things, he threatened to cut off their pension benefits.)

I,.. I ...; Our overall analysis was summarized in Table 1. . .

--- Table 1 &out here - - -

A couple of comments are in order, before I attempt to draw more

explicit implications for social movements in religious organizations.

First, a major dimension of analysis has to be the power-sanctions balance

of authorities vis-A-vis the dissidents. If the authorities can easily

expel or fire members, then the subordinates, if participation is important

to them, will be wary of participating in collective actions. Moreover,

loss dramatic sanctions may be available. Second, organizations exist

within society, and there may be many resources controlled by external groups

that will be appealed to by both authorities and subordinates. The courts

and justice system may allocate police power to one side or the other,

stockholders may be appealed to, the media may bring community pressures

to bear. Finally, we must remember that social movements in a single organization may be part of broader social movements, generated as much by conditions aud chan(le in the larger society as by events in the single rime a successor, later events may undo that selection. Episcopal and I'resbyterian

organization under study. Workers may be protesting what,this one company forms are likely to institutionalize some system of elite selection,

is doing, but they may also be part of a large attempt to transform through a council of bishops, or council of elders. Congregational forms

industrial society; students may be protesting the fwd in the dormitor:,, are more likely to institutionalize some wider voting system.

or they may be part of the anti-war movement. Women may be protesting the during depoliticized periods, the normal politics of succession lead

sexist policies of a given church, but they may be part of a broader feminist to little debate over rules of succession and, even in congregational

movement. The extent to which the movement is part of a larger movement fohs, a routine succession process with little confli,ct. I suspect that

effects the nature of the battle, the resources available, tactics, options, congregational churches, like professional associations, often turn the

and so on. selection process over to nominating committees that scan a small list of

What are some of the most pervasive forms of social movement-like con- eligibles and present one or two names for the delegates to choose from.

flicts in religious organizations? I want to discuss three: coup d'btat Most voluntary associations assume consensus and do not institutionalize

and succession conflicts, heresy and insurrections, and schisms. interest groups and party systems. Ilowever, if one group begins to believe

that its interests are not represented, caucuses may be formed to coordinate Coups and Succession Processes. Organizations, like states, develop action. institutionalized succession systems. These systems reflect constitutional Movements to change the rules oE selection usually follow long periods norms or realities about the institutionalization of power and rights to of growth or change in which some parties believe that the current system participate in the choosing of key officers. There are three aspects of leaves no room in the system for the expression of their interests. succession and removal that may develop social movement-like phenomena around I would expect movements to expand the council of Bishops, or to change the them--criteria for office holding, specific incumbents, and the system for open-or closedness of their deliberations, to have bcen preceded by long selection and removel. periods of discontent. 1. Succession systems institutionalize powerful actors conceptions Movements to change succession systems are likely to be elite or cadre of right choice. The institutionalized system may be modified by later movements. The mass of members, even if highly committed, are unlikely to generations on a crescive, incremental basis to reflect perceptions of new be aware of the consequences of the succession system. In an organization rigl~tsior, the old system may be radically changed in the midst of large I studied, the YMCA of Chicago, the change of succession systems was instigated scale mobilization (note what a radical event was the holding of secret by the General Secretary and the President of the Board, when they Pelt that. ballots in Poland this last summer.) Sects closely tied to charismatic the old system would have led a small group of influential board members to founders will often asswe the right of the founder to name his own successor. dominate the selection process and, I should ahd, choose a candidate they If he or she does not, the succession period becomes open to factionalized fighting among senior officers of the sect. Even if the charismatic leader does did not favor.

I do not know of many sociologically informed studies of the structure The history of Christendom is repletewit11 schisms and each of you can recount oE heresy trials and insurrections. Robert Adams' most fascinating dis- your favorite one. They revalve around what appear to be purely theological sertation examines 10 heresy trials in Amrican Protestant seminaries. issues, what is the word and its correct interpretation, they involve church

The trialswere set in three kinds of seminaries--what Adams calls movement organization, and they involve both of these as they apply to contemporery seminaries, denominational seminaries, and university seminaries. The living and social issues. Creationism. Inerrancy, the Gwd News Movement, heresy trials occurred in the context of theological change-- from traditional the racial integration of the church, the church involvement in political or'conservative,theology to liberal and more pluralistic understandings. action, all of these become bases for large scale conflict, first within

They also occurred in the context of a changing professionalism and a church or denomination, later as movemellts to secession. scholarly orientation of tho serninaq. The three types of seminaries differ Note that the intensity or form of conflict has changed. Religious in their control structure and the extent to which constituents of the wars as such have declined in Christendom, at least. Is that because most seminary - benefactors, board members, ministers, are buffered from the of Christendom exists in strong states with a monopoly of violence, or seminary and have ideologies which support pluralism and modernism. Adams' because of the changing forms of civil conduct? I suspect both. account of these conflicts largely focuses upon the changes wrought in the Although each of us can cite cases of schisms and mass movements, we seminaries. A comon pattern was for the accusers to win the battle and lack well documented cases of the social process, sociologically informed

lose the war. That is, a given professor of religion might be forced out, histories, if you will. Moreover, we lack the well designed comparative

but, five or tell years later, his idbological position was well represented studies. Two or more denominations may both confront mass movements; why

at the school. is it contained in one, and leadsto a schism in another? Polity structure,

It sl~ouldbe apparent, that there is a large historical record that can authority response, and membership distribution are explanatory variables

be used for more detailed analysis of heresy trials from this framework. that may be of some use.

Why do some heretics remain nameless, other heretics die at the stake, but By now, I hope to have convinced you that this sociological framework

become the rallying point for later movements, and still others lead can order, can help explain, many conflicts and phenomena found in religious

secessions in their own time? organizations. I want to close this section by commenting on some neglected

topics or issues.

Mass Movements and Schisms 1. Why is American Protestantism so schism prone? Is it that the legal'

underpinnings of society promote the formation of new Churches? Where an insurrectionary group feels authorities are unresponsive, they Or is it that Protestantism, unlike Catholicism, does not sacralizc the church as much? 'may desist and withdraw. Or they may attempt to mobilize others to support Catholicism certainly generates factions, but, in the modern day, it docs the cause. Moreover, they may broaden the cause. Schisms are dramatic not lead.to group defection. Are the costs of exit too high in Catholicism? events, wrenching for the participants who must cast off deep loyalties. (Hirschman) 2. llow docs schism and social change occur in can~nunalreligions, such as Islam or Judaism? Church structure is less bureaucratic and formal, if and parcel of the major social change processes of society, deeply nested that is the word, in both Islam and Judaism; the nature of attachment differs. in political Process. What an opportunity awaits us. and so on. It is clear that sects and new branches develop, yet the process is different than in Protestantism. Possibly, resource mobilization and block,mobilization processes are at stake. It may be that sects in Islam occur as leaders bring their followers. On the other hand, new factions in Judaism appear to' involve individual conversion.

3. Finally, and related to comnents made above, we just do not have the detailed historical sociologies of conflict process that are needed-- the interaction of partisans and authorities over issues, the escalation and de-escalation of conflict. In other areas, say the study of community conflict, and politics, or the study of revolutions, a massive sociological literature has devoloped. llere is a field aborning.

Conclusions

Our scope has been broad. I have tried to sketch two major areas of investigation, the relation of religious change to the rise and fall'of classes and the path of social movements within religious organizations.

The two are interconnected in that, on the one hand, the progenitor of social movemenLs in religious organizations may be social change in the larger society, and, on the other hand, the outcome of change within religious organizations may be ideological and institutional changes in religious organizations that impinge upon the larger society. Although the two levels of analysis are interconnected, they require independent investigation. Stated another way, the one is not reducible to the other.

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"The Aggressive Organization and the Reluctant Environment: Wamsley, Gary and Mayer N. Zald The Vulnerability of an Inter-Fpith,Coordinating Agency," The Political Economy of Pilblic.Organizations: A Critique Review of Religion Ilescarch 20.3 Summer, 1979, 315-34. and Approach To The study of Public Administration. D. C. Ileath, Lexington, Ha., 1973. Tilly, Cliarles Prom Mobilization to Revolution. Reading, Ma.1 1978.

ADD : Wood, James R. "Authority and Controversial Policy: The Churches and Civil Rights," American Sociological Review 1970, 35: Vailla~icourt,Jean-Guy, Papal Power: A study of Vatican ~&trolover Lay Catholic Elites. Univ. of Cal. Press, 1981

"Protestant Enforcement of Racial Integration Policy: White, 0. Kendall, "Mormons For ERA": An Internal Social Movement," A Sociological Study in the Political Economy of Organizations." , paper presented to Association for the Sociology unpublished Doctoral Dissertation: Vanderbilt Univ., 1967. of Religion, Toronto, Ontario, Canada1 August 22, 1981

, . and llayer N. Zald "Aspects of ~acialIntegration in the ~ethodistChurch: Sources of Resistance to Organizational Policy," --Social Forces XLV (December) 1966: 255-65.

Wuthnow, Robert "World Order and Religious Movements," pp. 57-75 in Albert Bergesen, editor, Studies of the Modern World-System, New York: Academic Press, 1980.

Zald, Mayer N. Organizational Change: The Political Economy of the YMCA. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1970.

"Who Shall Rule: A Political Analysis of Succession in a Large Welfare Organization," Pacific Sociological Review 8, WORKING PAPERS OF THE CENTER FOR RESEARCH ON SOCIAL ORGANIZATION

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