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Building a Movement in the Non-Profit Industrial Complex

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Building a Movement in the Non-Profit Industrial Complex Building A Movement In The Non-Profit Industrial Complex Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Michelle Oyakawa Graduate Program in Sociology The Ohio State University 2017 Dissertation Committee: Korie Edwards, Advisor Andrew Martin Steve Lopez Copyrighted by Michelle Mariko Oyakawa 2017 Abstract Today, democracy in the United States is facing a major challenge: Wealthy elites have immense power to influence election outcomes and policy decisions, while the political participation of low-income people and racial minorities remains relatively low. In this context, non-profit social movement organizations are one of the key vehicles through which ordinary people can exercise influence in our political system and pressure elite decision-makers to take action on matters of concern to ordinary citizens. A crucial fact about social movement organizations is that they often receive significant financial support from elites through philanthropic foundations. However, there is no research that details exactly how non-profit social movement organizations gain resources from elites or that analyzes how relationships with elite donors impact grassroots organizations’ efforts to mobilize people to fight for racial and economic justice. My dissertation aims to fill that gap. It is an ethnographic case study of a multiracial statewide organization called the Ohio Organizing Collaborative (OOC) that coordinates progressive social movement organizations in Ohio. Member organizations work on a variety of issues, including ending mass incarceration, environmental justice, improving access to early childhood education, and raising the minimum wage. In 2016, the OOC registered over 155,000 people to vote in Ohio. I conducted 55 semi-structured interviews with staff members of OOC and allied organizations, including funders. I also ii observed 330 hours of OOC meetings and events and collected over 1300 documents pertaining to OOC’s history and fundraising. Using funds from foundations, the OOC has made progress toward their goal of building social movement infrastructure in Ohio. However, the OOC faces tension between the demands of its elite funding sources on one hand and its mission to organize communities on the other. This work illuminates the mechanisms through which elites impact efforts to organize poor people and people of color. Non-profit organizational fields, often referred to by social movement leaders as the non-profit industrial complex (NPIC), are governed by a technocratic political logic wherein elite experts determine strategy and decide what issues to prioritize. The Ohio Organizing Collaborative, on the other hand, is governed by a populist political logic, which holds that political leaders should prioritize the demands of ordinary people. I find that the NPIC limits nonprofit organization leaders’ ability to build trust and authentically engage ordinary citizens in the political process. The structure of the NPIC distorts accountability, making organizers beholden to elite funders instead of grassroots leaders. Issue-based funding and short-term grants make it difficult for organizers to focus on their primary mission, which involves recruiting and mentoring community members and building relationships across race, class and geography to strengthen social movement infrastructure. iii Acknowledgments First and foremost, I would like to thank the organizers of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative for allowing me to do this project. I am humbled by their trust. In particular, Kirk Noden ensured that I had access to OOC meetings and events; without his support my research would not have gone forward. Also, thank you to the members of the OOC core team: DaMareo Cooper, Troy Jackson, Heather McMahon, Jennifer Toles, and Molly Shack. I owe a debt of gratitude to Ohio Student Association organizers who welcomed me to their meetings and events: James Hayes, Stuart McIntyre, Aramis Malachi-Sundiata, and Malaya Davis. I learned so much from everyone in the OOC. I would also like to thank all of my interviewees, both within and outside of the OOC who took time out of their busy schedules to speak with me. I am incredibly grateful to my advisor, Korie Edwards, who provided invaluable advice and tough critiques during the research and writing process. She has been a great source of insight and support throughout my graduate school career, and her influence has made me a much stronger scholar. Thank you also to my committee members: Andrew Martin and Steve Lopez for their support and feedback. Thank you to all my colleagues who provided moral and emotional support throughout the research and writing process, in particular Lindsey Ibanez, Tate Steidley, Louisa Roberts and Emily Shrider. iv This research was funded in part by a Silverman Research Support Grant from the Ohio State Sociology Department. I also benefitted from the Distinguished University Fellowship from Ohio State. Finally, none of this would be possible without my family: my parents, Cindy and Steve Oyakawa and my husband, Todd Callais. v Vita 2005................................................................Wadsworth High School 2009 ...............................................................B.A. Sociology/Anthropology, Denison ........................................................................University 2012 ...............................................................M.A. Sociology, The Ohio State University 2010 to present ..............................................Graduate Associate, Department of Sociology, The Ohio State University Publications Oyakawa, Michelle. 2015. “’Turning Private Pain Into Public Action’: The Cultivation of Identity Narratives by a Faith-Based Community Organization.” Qualitative Sociology 38(4): 395-415 Delehanty, Jack and Michelle Oyakawa. 2017. “Building a Collective Moral Imaginary: Personalist Culture and Social Performance in Faith-Based Community Organizing.” American Journal of Cultural Sociology. vi Fields of Study Major Field: Sociology vii Table of Contents Abstract.............................................................................................................................. ii Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................ iv Vita .................................................................................................................................... vi Fields of Study................................................................................................................. vii List of Tables .................................................................................................................... xi List of Figures.................................................................................................................. xii Introduction....................................................................................................................... 1 Elite Power, “Ordinary People,” and Community Organizing............................................. 8 What is the Ohio Organizing Collaborative?........................................................................ 12 Competing Political Logics: Populist Versus Technocratic................................................. 20 Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 27 Chapter 1: Social Movements and Non-Profit Organizations.................................... 30 The Non-Profit Industrial Complex....................................................................................... 34 Nonprofit Social Movement Organizations and Social Movement Infrastructures.......... 36 Nonprofit Social Movement Organizations and Organizational Fields ............................. 45 Funding Arenas, Social Movement Infrastructure, and the OOC...................................... 48 viii Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 78 Chapter 2: The Structure of the Non-Profit Industrial Complex .............................. 81 The Contested Role of Elite Funding in Social Movements................................................. 83 The Structure of the Nonprofit Industrial Complex (NPIC)............................................... 89 How Social Movement Organizations Get Funding in the NPIC...................................... 100 Issue-based Funding and Short-term Grants...................................................................... 104 How the Non-profit Industrial Complex Impacts Social Movement Organizations....... 108 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................. 135 Chapter 3: Issue-based Funding and Leadership Development .............................. 138 Neoliberalism, Intersectionality and the Battle for Hearts and Minds............................. 139 Issue Campaigns .................................................................................................................... 148 Leadership Development....................................................................................................... 157 How the NPIC Undermines Leadership Development....................................................... 173 Organizer
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