Activists against hunger: Membership characteristics of a national social movement organization |
| |
Authors: | Steven F Cohn Steven E Barkan William H Whitaker |
| |
Institution: | (1) Department of Sociology, University of Maine, 04469 Orono, Maine;(2) School of Social Work, University of Maine, 04469 Orono, Maine |
| |
Abstract: | This article presents results of the first study of the contemporary antihunger movement. We compare the membership characteristics of one its largest organizations, Bread for the World (BFW), with data on the general population of the United States drawn from the 1985 General Social Survey. When compared with the general population, BFW members are, among other things, unusually well educated, religious, politically liberal and efficacious, and active in church-related and political organizations. The differences in religious and political belief and organizational involvement persist even when BFW members are compared with their equally well educated counterparts in the general population. Our findings thus elucidate certain ideological and organizational bases for membership in BFW. We discuss the implications of the findings for issues in the contemporary study of social movements and for BFW's prospects in the political arena. |
| |
Keywords: | social movements hunger voluntary organizations activism religion and politics |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|