Strategic Alliances

The Political Efficacy of Religioussecular Ties

Bibliographic Data

ID6209930
AuthorsRichard L Wood (0000-0002-9652-2481, Richard L. Wood is Professor of Sociology at the University of New Mexico, on leave to serve as the President of the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at the University of Southern California. Brad R. Fulton is Associate Professor at the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University. Rebecca Sager is Professor of Sociology at Loyola Marymount University. Richard L. Wood can be reached as corresponding author at [email protected]., corresponding author), Brad R Fulton (0000-0001-5082-4022, Richard L. Wood is Professor of Sociology at the University of New Mexico, on leave to serve as the President of the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at the University of Southern California. Brad R. Fulton is Associate Professor at the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University. Rebecca Sager is Professor of Sociology at Loyola Marymount University. Richard L. Wood can be reached as corresponding author at [email protected].), Rebecca Sager (Richard L. Wood is Professor of Sociology at the University of New Mexico, on leave to serve as the President of the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at the University of Southern California. Brad R. Fulton is Associate Professor at the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University. Rebecca Sager is Professor of Sociology at Loyola Marymount University. Richard L. Wood can be reached as corresponding author at [email protected].)
Year2023
Volume28
Issue3
Pages279-300
Publication date2023-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueMobilization An International Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1086-671X • E-ISSN: 1938-1514
PublisherMobilization Journal (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.17813/1086-671x-28-3-279
OpenAlexW4386956049
LanguageEN
Citations received1

This multimethod study investigates strategic collaboration in alliances connecting politically engaged religious and secular social movement organizations. We assess the impact of religious-secular strategic alliances on movement political efficacy by analyzing data from a national survey of the community organizing field to compare organizations that do/do not participate in religious-secular alliances. The conceptual framework draws on the literatures in social movements, political sociology, and organizational sociology to argue that political efficacy is fundamentally shaped by an organization's strategic capacity and mobilizing capacity. We analyze four organizational outputs that serve as indicators of strategic capacity and find that participating in religious-secular alliances is associated with greater strategic capacity but lower mobilizing capacity. A complementary ethnographic case study identifies likely mechanisms underlying both findings. Our analysis suggests that collaboration across the religious-secular divide can increase a movement’s political efficacy within a democratic polity but with accompanying complexities that participants must manage

Collective efficacy · Democracy · Political science · Politics · Polity · Public relations · Religious organization · Social movement · Social science · Sociology · Law · Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering · Religion and Society Interactions · Religion, Society, and Development

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