Bibliography: #BIB24454

web link	bahai-library.com/bibliography/BIB24454
reference type	Journal Article
title	Intimate Diversity : The Presentation of Multiculturalism and Multiracialism in a High-Boundary Religious Movement
journal	Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion (Washington, D.C.)
author	Jenkins, Kathleen
authority control	Kathleen Jenkins
year	2003
date	Sept. 2003
issue	3
volume	42
abstract	Researchers studying the small yet significant number (8-10%) of U.S. multiracial/ethnic congregations have argued that formal organizatinoal commitment, the development of inclusive worship styles, and the formation of small racially/ethnically mixed groups appear to be significant factors in constructing and maintaining congregational activity. Drawing from four years of field studies in a racially and ethnically diverse congregation of the International Churches of Christ (ICOC), the author addresses a process about which relatively little is known: the construction and maintenance of multiracial/ethnic networks in high-boundary religious movements. The author demonstrates how this type of group is particularly able to present a valuable and rising commodity in the U.S. religious economy -- intimate diversity : the enactment and/or narration of close and caring relationships among a racially and ethnically diverse membership. The author's comparative analysis of the ICOC, the People's Temple, and contemporary U.S. Bahá'í communities suggests that membership in such groups offers members greater exposure and involvement with people from different backgrounds, but the terms of involvement in the organization seriously limit and define the manner in which individuals can experience diversity. Furthermore, group commitment to present a face of intimate diversity and strict mechanisms of social control hinder the abilities of the leadership and members to clearly recognize contradictions in group racial/ethnic ideologies and practice. The author relies solely upon McMullen and Cole for her information. This significantly distorts her conclusions.
language	English
keywords	DIVERSITY; MULTICULTURALISM; RELIGION; UNITED STATES; INTERNATIONAL CHURCHES OF CHRIST; PEOPLE'S TEMPLE; INTIMACY; COMMUNITY; BOUNDARIES (GROUP-SOCIAL)
pages	393–409
Legal note	11.

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