From Criticism to Collaboration: Evangelicals and the Other in Urban America

• In Event: 165 - Section on Sociology of Religion Roundtable Session (one-hour).
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 07. Evangelical Churches and Political Participation in the United States

Abstract

American evangelicals have become increasingly active in their efforts to promote common good solutions to urban poverty and inequality, yet most studies report a rather dismal record regarding their ability to create positive social change. However, in recent years a growing minority of urban evangelical activists have begun experimenting with new institutional approaches to combat poverty and inequality, whose primary goals include the social, economic, and political empowerment of marginalized and disadvantaged people, regardless of their faith background. For both scientific and normative reasons, we need to know more about the capabilities and limits of these new evangelical efforts to combat urban poverty and inequality in the United States. Based on twelve months of full-time ethnographic fieldwork – including over 90 in-depth interviews – with faith-based community organizing, community development, and political advocacy groups in Portland, Los Angeles, Atlanta, and Boston, I find evidence of increased capacity for social reflexivity and collaboration with religious, racial, and political others across diverse social contexts among engaged “social justice” evangelicals.

Author

• Wes Markofski, University of Wisconsin-Madison