Against All Odds
The Struggle for Racial Integration in Religious Organizations
Published on 1. January 2005
Book
Hardback
197 pages
978-0-8147-2223-7 (ISBN)
Description
Religious institutions are among the most segregated organizations in American society. This segregation has long been a troubling issue among scholars and religious leaders alike.
Despite attempts to address this racial divide, integrated churches are very difficult to maintain over time. Why is this so? How can organizations incorporate separate racial, ethnic, and cultural groups? Should they? And what are the costs and rewards for people and groups in such organizations?
Following up on Michael O. Emerson and Christian Smith's award-winning Divided by Faith, Against All Odds breaks new ground by exploring the beliefs, practices, and structures which allow integrated religious organizations to survive and thrive despite their difficulties. Based on six in-depth ethnographies of churches and other Christian organizations, this engaging work draws on numerous interviews, so that readers can hear first-hand the joys and frustrations which arise from actually experiencing racial integration. The book gives an inside, visceral sense of what it is like to be part of a multiracial religious organization as well as a theoretical understanding of these experiences.
Despite attempts to address this racial divide, integrated churches are very difficult to maintain over time. Why is this so? How can organizations incorporate separate racial, ethnic, and cultural groups? Should they? And what are the costs and rewards for people and groups in such organizations?
Following up on Michael O. Emerson and Christian Smith's award-winning Divided by Faith, Against All Odds breaks new ground by exploring the beliefs, practices, and structures which allow integrated religious organizations to survive and thrive despite their difficulties. Based on six in-depth ethnographies of churches and other Christian organizations, this engaging work draws on numerous interviews, so that readers can hear first-hand the joys and frustrations which arise from actually experiencing racial integration. The book gives an inside, visceral sense of what it is like to be part of a multiracial religious organization as well as a theoretical understanding of these experiences.
Reviews / Votes
"Breaks new ground by offering us a much better understanding of the operation of both religious congregations and race relations in the U.S. The research is impressive, the analysis smart, and the insights and implications important. This is a unique and significant book." - Christian Smith,University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill "Draws on six case studies to propose a nuanced theory of the dynamics associated with the success or failure of multicultural congregations. This book honestly confronts the issues related to taking part in or pastoring an integrated congregation." - Donald E. Miller,Executive Director, Center for Religion and Civic Culture, University of Southern California "Against All Odds whets our appetite for a larger research study using hundreds of churches. It is a welcoming beginning." (Missiology)More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 16 mm
Weight
448 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8147-2223-7 (9780814722237)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Brad Christerson (Author)
Brad Christerson is Professor in the Department of Sociology at Biola University and co-author of The Rise of Network Christianity, Growing Up in America: The Power of Race in the Lives of Teens and Against All Odds: The Struggle for Racial Integration in Religious Organizations.
Michael Oluf Emerson (Author)
Michael Oluf Emerson is Provost and Professor of Urban Studies at North Park University in Chicago, and a Kinder Fellow at Rice University's Kinder Institute for Urban Research. He has authored or co-authored fifteen books, including Divided By Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America, Transcending Racial Barriers, and Against All Odds: The Struggle for Racial Integration in Religious Organizations (NYU Press, 2005).
Korie Little Edwards (Author)
Korie Little Edwards is Associate Professor of Sociology at The Ohio State University. She is the author of The Elusive Dream: The Power of Race in Interracial Churches (OUP, 2008) and co-author of Against All Odds: The Struggle for Racial Integration in Religious Organizations (NYU Press, 2005).
Brad Christerson is Professor in the Department of Sociology at Biola University and co-author of The Rise of Network Christianity, Growing Up in America: The Power of Race in the Lives of Teens and Against All Odds: The Struggle for Racial Integration in Religious Organizations.
Michael Oluf Emerson (Author)
Michael Oluf Emerson is Provost and Professor of Urban Studies at North Park University in Chicago, and a Kinder Fellow at Rice University's Kinder Institute for Urban Research. He has authored or co-authored fifteen books, including Divided By Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race in America, Transcending Racial Barriers, and Against All Odds: The Struggle for Racial Integration in Religious Organizations (NYU Press, 2005).
Korie Little Edwards (Author)
Korie Little Edwards is Associate Professor of Sociology at The Ohio State University. She is the author of The Elusive Dream: The Power of Race in Interracial Churches (OUP, 2008) and co-author of Against All Odds: The Struggle for Racial Integration in Religious Organizations (NYU Press, 2005).
Content
ContentsAcknowledgments 1 Against All Odds 2 The Need for Belonging 3 A Place to Call Home 4 White Flight or Flux? 5 Embrace and Division 6 Together and Separate 7 Jesus Is Color-Blind 8 What We Learned Notes References Index About the Authors