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Dissertation Information for Michelle B. Golden

NAME:
- Michelle B. Golden

DEGREE:
- Ph.D.

DISCIPLINE:
- Women's Studies

SCHOOL:
- Emory University (USA) (2000)

ADVISORS:
- Irene Browne

COMMITTEE MEMBERS:
- Beverly Guy-Sheftall
- Regina E. Werum

MPACT Status: Fully Complete

Title: What's getting in the way of change? The relationship between "oppositional" cultures and racial inequality in two social movement organizations

Abstract: A wave of social movements in the 1960s and 1970s produced many organizations dedicated to the eradication of power imbalances along gender, race, class, and other lines. Many such organizations remain active to this day and continue their efforts to be agents for positive social change. Paradoxically, however, many of these organizations actually internally reproduce some power imbalances even as they fight against others in the public arena. In some cases, participants have tried to eradicate inequalities in their organizations, but internal power imbalances have remained in place nonetheless.

Guided by Black, Chicana and related feminist theory, this dissertation draws on eleven months of participant-observation and 68 in-depth interviews to explore (his phenomenon as it emerged in two social movement organizations in the late 1990s: one organization with roots in liberal and radical feminism, and the other with roots in the New Left and community organizing movements. Both organizations were stratified by race; white people held all of the top-level positions, and people of color were clustered in lower-level jobs. Many individuals in each organization were concerned about this pattern. Further, some sought to translate their concerns into action toward change. In this context, each organization was engaged in specific projects designed to address internal race/diversity issues.

Despite participants' efforts to make change, racial inequality still persisted in each of these settings. What was getting in the way of change? Intensive analysis of organizational processes yielded an unexpected answer: organizational culture . Both organizations' cultures had been designed as alternatives to dominant culture norms; as such, they played key roles in each organization's opposition to inequality and injustice, and appeared at first glance to be race-neutral. However, each culture subtly but powerfully impeded change efforts. Further, both cultures included hidden themes associated with "hegemonic whiteness," providing white participants with context-specific forms of white privilege and placing related constraints on people of color in the organization. This study underscores the importance of attending to organizational culture along with other more visible patterns found in activist organizations seeking to eradicate internal racism.

MPACT Scores for Michelle B. Golden

A = 0
C = 0
A+C = 0
T = 0
G = 0
W = 0
TD = 0
TA = 0
calculated 2008-02-02 22:57:23

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