Christopher Weare Ann Crigler Nina S. Eliasoph Paul R. Lichterman University of Southern California
This study integrates ethnographic research with social network analysis (SNA) to explore the relational, cultural, and institutional dynamics that shape how civic groups define their identities and public issues. The study is motivated by theoretical and empirical findings concerning civic associations, civic culture, and civic engagement. Many studies link a strong civic culture, a set of norms in support of democratic institutions, with a vibrant associational life in which citizens sustain public-spirited conversation and develop solidarities and horizons of interest that reach beyond their circles of like-minded friends. These associations, however, remain somewhat of a black box. Ethnographers who have closely examined associations find that many voluntary associations do not fit the ideal propounded in these theories, that associations actually support multiple forms of civic culture, and that similar activities do occur in other institutional spheres.
The study seeks to improve our understanding of how associations shape civic culture by examining how everyday methods of talking and coordinating action both within and between groups help to constitute organizations and their fields. A field is all of the civic, governmental or commercial organizations, coalitions, alliances, etc., that have discussed or acted in relation to a public problem. The study focuses on housing issues in Los Angeles because it is constituted with a rich set of associations with differing interests and cultural backgrounds. This focus also highlights the contrasting understandings that differing groups bring to that field and the dynamics generated by interaction between differing understandings.
The research is guided by three key concepts. The first is group styles which are defined as the intersection between speech norms, conceptual boundaries, and membership bonds that have enabling and constraining effect on internal and external interactions. The second is issue vocabularies -- how people define social issues, paying close attention to words and phrases in everyday communication, and the third is networks which are not only the set of ties between individuals and associations but also the meanings attributed to those ties and the stories that sustain them. The empirical work begins with a social network analysis of the association within the housing field to define the how organizations understand the boundaries and structure of the field. The project will then conduct a number of ethnographies to examine the process by which group styles are formed, maintained, and transferred between groups, employing the network data to compare associations' real and perceived environments.
This work has empirical and theoretical impacts on the field as well as broader social benefits for addressing perceived deficits in civic engagement. Empirically, this work more closely integrates ethnography and SNA than previous efforts, thereby leveraging insights generated from each method to improve the other. These synergies are critical for exploring the civic dynamics of interest and facilitate theoretical developments by contextualizing ethnographic work and by more deeply exploring the meanings attached to the social relations identified through SNA. This combination will deepen and complement existing work on the civic role of associations in ways that will temper expectations for programs that aim to increase associational participation and refine concepts on the institutional reforms required to promote positive forms of citizenship. Also, by clarifying the diversity of civic styles, it will enhance citizens' sense of choices in civic engagement, particularly those from historically disenfranchised communities that tend not to participate is traditional forms of civic activities.
