Creating Transnational Solidarity: The Use of Narrative in the U.S.-Central America Peace Movement

Nepstad, Sharon Erickson

doi:10.17813/maiq.6.1.8606h50k7135180h

Cited by 91 publications

(37 citation statements)

References 1 publication

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“…Yet little is known about how politically oriented civic organizations manage racial and socioeconomic diversity in practice. Studies of other types of diverse organizations-namely, multiracial congregations (Becker 1998;Emerson 2006;Marti 2012) and transnational social movements (Nepstad 2001)-show participants reworking familiar religious practices (like prayer, music, and narrative) in the course of enacting overarching collective identities that recognize, yet transcend, the more particular identities that divide participants. Recent research provides some evidence suggesting that religious practices-and prayer in particular-could also perform this function within racially and socioeconomically diverse civic organizations.…”

Section: Bridging Cultural Practices: Forging Group Cultures Across Dmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Bridging Cultural Practices in Racially and Socioeconomically Diverse Civic Organizations

Braunstein¹,

Fulton

Wood³

2014

Am Sociol Rev

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Organizations can benefit from being internally diverse, but they may also face significant challenges arising from such diversity. Potential benefits include increased organizational innovation, legitimacy, and strategic capacity; challenges include threats to organizational stability, efficacy, and survival. In this article, we analyze the dynamics of internal diversity within a field of politically oriented civic organizations. We find that "bridging cultural practices" serve as a key mechanism through which racially and socioeconomically diverse organizations navigate challenges generated by internal differences. Drawing on data from extended ethnographic fieldwork within one local faith-based community organizing coalition, we describe how particular prayer practices are used to bridge differences within group settings marked by diversity. Furthermore, using data from a national study of all faith-based community organizing coalitions in the United States, we find that a coalition's prayer practices are associated with its objective level of racial and socioeconomic diversity and its subjective perception of challenges arising from such diversity. Our multi-method analysis supports the argument that diverse coalitions use bridging prayer practices to navigate organizational challenges arising from racial and socioeconomic diversity, and we argue that bridging cultural practices may play a similar role within other kinds of diverse organizations.

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Section: Bridging Cultural Practices: Forging Group Cultures Across Dmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Role of Bridging Cultural Practices in Racially and Socioeconomically Diverse Civic Organizations

Braunstein¹,

Fulton

Wood³

2014

Am Sociol Rev

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“…Narratives not only provide a sense of solidarity within a single national community working for political change but also within transnational social movements. For example, Nepstad (2001) illustrated the use of narrative as a unifying tool in the U.S.-Central America peace movement. She analyzed the deployment of the life story of Salvadoran Archbishop Romero among disparate communities in Central America and the United States to construct a coherent and unified social movement.…”

Section: The Transformative Voice Of Narrativementioning

confidence: 99%

Narrative as a Root Metaphor for Political Psychology

Hammack

Pilecki

2011

Political Psychology

146

120

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The idea of narrative has become increasingly appropriated in empirical research in both psychology and politics, yet there is a notable absence of integrative frameworks that specify a conceptual and methodological approach to narrative research in political psychology. An integrative conceptual framework is proposed and anchored in four principles of a narrative approach: (1) the mutual constitution of language and thought, (2) the need for personal coherence through narrative identity development, (3) the need for collective solidarity through shared meaning, and (4) the mediational property of narrative in social activity and practice. Theory and empirical research related to these principles are reviewed. We argue that a narrative framework has the potential to enhance the relevance and amplify the voice of political psychology within and beyond the academy and to offer new knowledge on the complex and dynamic relationship between context and mind.Since its emergence in the 1970s as a scholarly enterprise seeking to link politics, mind, and behavior, political psychology has struggled to find an anchoring paradigm. Horowitz (1979) argued that the sustenance of political psychology, and its ability to unify social science disciplines, would be determined by its ability to offer solutions to real political dilemmas. This sentiment is echoed in Barber's (1990) call for a progressive and relevant political psychology, as well as Winter's (2000) contention that political psychology must address the practical problems of real life. Both Horowitz (1979) and Smith (1979) suggested that the emergence of political psychology was directly connected to historical concerns and processes related to disciplinary structures. And Smith (1979, 1980) cautiously argued that political psychology might provide a multidisciplinary paradigm for the social and behavioral sciences through its commitment to an analysis of the mind in political context.In some ways, the lack of a coherent unifying paradigm within political psychology is related to the demands of continued disciplinary training for emerging scholars. Hence political psychologists trained primarily in political science might privilege rational choice theory over, say, social identity theory, because that paradigm is considered canonical to their disciplinary practice (e.g., Jervis, 1989). Yet the interdisciplinary nature of political psychology commands the development of conceptual frameworks that can cross borders in fields of knowledge production and, in the process, construct novel ways to approach political problems. In this article, we argue that a paradigm has begun to emerge which not only transcends disciplinary boundaries within the social sciences but also provides a bridge to the humanities. That paradigm is narrative.Calling upon social psychologist Ted Sarbin's (1986a) classic statement of narrative as a "root metaphor" for psychology, we argue that narrative represents an ideal root metaphor for political psychology in its ability to resolve the analyti...

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“…Research on solidarity movements has echoed some of these conclusions, highlighting for instance the importance of political opportunities (Kay ), cognitive liberation (Nepstad ), framing (Nepstad , ), and networks (Smith ). “Carrier pigeons,” or border‐crossers, seem especially crucial to igniting and sustaining solidarity movements (Frank , 108).…”

Section: Mobilizing In the Usmentioning

confidence: 99%

How “Partnership” Weakens Solidarity: Colombian GM Workers and the Limits of UAW Internationalism

Young¹,

Becerra²

2014

Journal of Labor and Society

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This article examines the ongoing U.S. solidarity campaign with the Association of Injured Workers and Ex‐Workers of General Motors Colmotores (ASOTRECOL), workers fired from the GM plant in Bogotá, Colombia, after suffering injuries on the assembly line. After reviewing some of the factors that facilitated the mobilization of community and rank‐and‐file activists, we discuss the refusal of the United Auto Workers (UAW) union leadership to support the campaign. While the UAW has sometimes engaged in solidarity campaigns with foreign workers, it has not supported ASOTRECOL. We argue that the primary reason is that doing so might jeopardize what UAW leaders consider to be their positive relationship with General Motors. U.S. activists' expectation that the UAW would support the cause strongly influenced their strategic orientation early on, further hindering the chances of success. We suggest that solidarity activists should take unions' bargaining relationships into account when devising strategy.

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Creating Transnational Solidarity: The Use of Narrative in the U.S.-Central America Peace Movement

Cited by 91 publications

References 1 publication

The Role of Bridging Cultural Practices in Racially and Socioeconomically Diverse Civic Organizations

The Role of Bridging Cultural Practices in Racially and Socioeconomically Diverse Civic Organizations

Narrative as a Root Metaphor for Political Psychology

How “Partnership” Weakens Solidarity: Colombian GM Workers and the Limits of UAW Internationalism

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