RESEARCH

Social Movements and Collective Action

In the area of theory I am working on developing a formal model of fatalism that takes into account both structural and cultural components. A major analytical shortcoming present in the fatalism literature—research that primarily draws from non-sociological disciplines—is that fatalism is conceptualized as a one-sided cognitive state and not as the multifaceted condition that it is. Fatalism may stem, as Durkheim argued, from structural conditions such as inequality or extreme over regulation. Theorized this way, Durkheim’s fatalism parallels Marx’s discussion of alienation. A theoretical chapter from the dissertation expands this argument and appears in Sociological Theory as “Turning Anomie on its Head: Fatalism as Durkheim's Concealed and Multidimensional Alienation Theory” (Vol. 23, No. 1. March 2005, pp. 75-85)

Turning from Durkheim to another of sociology’s founders, fatalism may also, as Weber argued, result from distinct belief systems that socialize adherents to accept specific fatalistic worldviews. By moving away from Durkheim and towards Weber, I am currently exploring Weber’s culturalist conception of fatalistic orientations that are a result of elective affinities between structure and belief. Unlike Durkheim’s structurally deterministic model, Weber places a much needed emphasis on the role of cosmological forces such a karma and reincarnation in shaping fatalistic worldviews.

The aim is to develop a multidimensional model of fatalism that accounts for both the structural and cultural determinants of mastery of over life’s affairs.

Research in the Sociology of Religion and Culture

My research in the sociology of religion takes three primary directions. First I am looking at the intersection of religious education, parental decision making, and issues of school choice. A second area of research looks at public opinion in Islamic countries and examines Christian/Muslim differences in primarily Islamic countries. This research also uses the available survey data to assess the merits of so-called “Clash of Civilization” theories with particular emphasis on the idea that Islam fosters an inherent sense of fatalism in its adherents. Third, I am taking up a research program that draws from theories in the psychology of religion to assess the association between religiosity and fatalistic orientations.

Catholic and Public Schools in Bexar County.

Along with professors, research associates, and staff at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), affiliated with the UTSA’s Institute for Law and Public Affairs and the Culture and Policy Institute, I am currently part of a team conducting research that examines multiple aspects of parental decision-making associated with the selection of schools for their children and their perceptions, preferences, and attitudes associated with Catholic, public, and private (non-Catholic) schools. We conducted a major survey, focusing mainly on Catholic households, but including some non-Catholic households that had children attending Catholic schools. The project also examines enrollment data of Catholic schools across time, reviews demographic information on Bexar County (Texas) as related to past or potential school enrollments.

Is There Such a Thing as Islamic Fatalism: Classic Social Theory Speaks to the ‘Clash of Civilizations’ Debate

Survey data from four primarily Islamic countries are used to assess the notion of “Islamic Fatalism.” Results of regression analysis here suggest a standard misinterpretation of Islamic fatalism but one that is best explained by accounting for the multifaceted nature of the fatalism concept. Respondents in Muslim countries show moderate levels of fatalism that resemble that of Eastern Europeans and generally feel a sense of mastery over life’s affairs. Findings are mixed regarding differences between Middle Eastern Christians and Muslims in terms of self-mastery but Muslims do indicate a higher level of belief that cosmological forces control life’s outcomes than do Middle Eastern Christians. A second provocative finding is that Western influence and higher levels of modernization may actually cause Muslims to feel they have less control over their lives and that Muslims living in more Westernized countries such as Turkey tend to be much more structurally fatalist than Muslims living in less Westernized countries. Implications of these findings for current “Clash of Civilizations” debates beliefs will be discussed.

A Cognitive Approach to the Continued Salience of the Religious Sphere: Testing the Resource Compensation and Resource Amplification Hypotheses Using Cross-National Data

The resource compensation hypothesis predicts that religiosity will serve as a cognitive buffer against structural constraints whereby more religious individuals will exhibit lower levels of fatalism than their less religious counterparts. The resource amplification perspective, on the other hand, predicts that religiosity will simultaneously foster a sense that otherworldly forces control life’s outcomes while also supplying a cognitive relief from the material and structural constraints. In this view, since there is no reason to expect the type of control that is understood as belonging to cosmological forces, higher levels of religiosity should correlate with a stronger sense of fatalism. Using cross-national survey data, results from this chapter suggest support for the resource compensation hypothesis. Implications for the debates over the salience of modern religion will be considered and a general theory of religious innovation proposed

Research in Social Movements & Collective Behavior

(in Progress) “ ‘Resistance Framing’ and the Nation of Islam” Co-authored with graduate student James Ordner.

The goal for this paper is to contribute to recent scholarship in the social movements/collective behavior literature that is concerned with “framing processes” as a mechanism used by social movement organizers to craft specific messages. In particular, we use discourse analysis as the primary research methodology to examine the early framing strategies used by the Black Nationalist movement known as the Nation of Islam. The data comes from writings, public notices and speeches delivered by early founders of the Nation of Islam.

The paper will be submitted to either Social Movement Studies, or Mobilization, the two leading social movements/collective behavior journals.