Drawing New Symbolic Boundaries over Old Social Boundaries: Forging Social Movement Unity in Congregation-Based Community Organizing

@article{Swarts2011DrawingNS,
  title={Drawing New Symbolic Boundaries over Old Social Boundaries: Forging Social Movement Unity in Congregation-Based Community Organizing},
  author={Heidi J. Swarts},
  journal={Sociological Perspectives},
  year={2011},
  volume={54},
  pages={453 - 477}
}
  • Heidi J. Swarts
  • Published 1 September 2011
  • Sociology
  • Sociological Perspectives
This article examines symbolic boundary work in congregation-based community organizing (CBCO), likely the most economically, racially, and religiously diverse left-of-center American social movement. Major studies examine how symbolic boundaries reproduce such social boundaries as race, class, and gender. In contrast, this article examines the microprocesses by which CBCO draws new symbolic boundaries over existing social boundaries within their groups. The author claims that boundary work is… 
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