Description
- Abstract:
- Underlying, interweaving with, and impacting the implementation of diversity paradigms are racialized emotions present in an organization. However, emotions are under-engaged in literature on organizations’ diversity initiatives. Through focus group discussions, one-to-one interviews, and participant observation within Rhode Island Protestant Christian churches that engage in racial reconciliation, I asked how they define and describe their work. This study shows that these churches do use diversity paradigms but go beyond them in order to address the intangible spiritual and emotional effects of both the problem of racism and the process to address it. Additionally, these qualitative methods revealed that the timeline of attaining the intangible is inefficient for an organization. Regardless, the church leaders felt that organizational diversity paradigms were insufficient, that pursuing intangible goals was inherent in all racial justice/reconciliation/diversity programs, and that doing so would require a communal approach. These findings suggest that organizations that do not actively attempt to engage with the intangible goals inherent in diversity work will continue to miss an integral facet of addressing racism.
- Notes:
- Thesis (A. M.)--Brown University, 2019
Access Conditions
- Rights
- In Copyright
- Restrictions on Use
- All rights reserved. Collection is open to the Brown community for research.
Citation
Bell, Jocelyn Tirzah,
"'Until We Weep': Rhode Island Protestant Christian Churches and Moving Beyond a Diversity Paradigm to Feeling Equality"
(2019).
Sociology Theses and Dissertations.
Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library.
https://doi.org/10.26300/e5pq-mp30
