Laughing Saints and Righteous Heroes
Emotional Rhythms in Social Movement Groups
To explore these questions, Erika Summers Effler undertook three years of ethnographic fieldwork with two groups: anti–death penalty activists STOP and the Catholic Workers, who strive to alleviate poverty. In both communities, members must contend with problems that range from the broad to the intimately personal. Adverse political conditions, internal conflict, and fluctuations in financial resources create a backdrop of daily frustration—but watching an addict relapse or an inmate’s execution are much more devastating setbacks. Summers Effler finds that overcoming these obstacles, recovering from failure, and maintaining the integrity of the group require a constant process of emotional fine-tuning, and she demonstrates how activists do this through thoughtful analysis and a lucid rendering of their deeply affecting stories.
“Laughing Saints and Righteous Heroes may well be the best-written book of serious social science you are ever likely to read. Erika Summers Effler puts you in the midst of the drama and humanity of people struggling for near-impossible ideals, simultaneously facing cold organizational realities and ironies and buffeted by the whirlwind of time. Alongside her moving account of two organizations with vastly different emotional styles, she condenses a theory into memorable aphorisms. Summers Effler comes closer than anyone yet to conquering a theory of time. Her book should delight and inform readers all the way from undergraduate students to sophisticated theorists to leaders of all kinds of organizations seeking a guide for riding the organizational storm.”
“By alternating charming stories with hard-hitting theory, Summers Effler unravels the emotional intricacies of the Janus dilemma: saints turn inward to inspire transcendent joy and protect the purity of the group, while heroes storm out to vanquish foes and threats. Best of all are her accounts of her own reactions to the characters she encounters in the two groups she compares, a Catholic Worker community and an organization opposed to the death penalty. Both groups face unimaginable challenges as they struggle to survive.”
Preface
Acknowledgments
1 Introduction: How Do Chronically Failing Altruistic
Social Movement Groups Persist?
A Glimpse of the Catholic Worker House
A Glimpse of STOP
Organization of the Book
Overview of the Chapters
2 Thrilling Risk Attracts Involvement
Draining Helplessness and Chaos at the Catholic Worker House
Distress at STOP’s Monthly Vigil
Toward a Theory of How Thrilling Risk Attracts Involvement
Conclusion
3 Recovering from Failure Carves Paths to Action
A Catholic Worker Story of Failure and Recovery
A STOP Story of Collapse and Recovery
Toward a Theory of How Recovering from Failure Carves
Paths to Action
Conclusion
4 Evolving Emotional Histories Shape Styles of Persistence
A Catholic Worker Story of Persistence
A STOP Story of Persistence
Toward a Theory of How Evolving Emotional Histories Shape Styles of Persistence
Conclusion
5 Conclusion: Toward a Fluid Theory of Social Organization
High Speed and Uneven Tempo at the Catholic Worker House
Low Speed and Even Tempo at STOP
Organization Emerges When the Pull toward Expansion Meets Obstacles
Stability Eventually Undermines Itself
The Relationship between Culture and Social Actors
Dynamics of Influence Across Actors
The Role of the Observer in the Perception of Stability
Assessing Outcomes
Conclusion
Methods Appendix
Working within the Limits of Observation
Investigating the Emotional Rhythm of Social Organization
Representing the Emotional Rhythm of Social Organization
References Index
Psychology: Social Psychology
Sociology: Social Change, Social Movements, Political Sociology | Social Psychology--Small Groups
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