========================================================================= Date: Mon, 30 Sep 1996 17:38:49 CDT Sender: H-Net/H-Urban Seminar on History of Community Organizing & Community-Based DevelopmentSubject: INTRO: Michael Byrd, Vanderbilt University Posted by Michael Byrd Even though I've been on this list since its inception, it just occurred to me that I never really properly introduced myself. Since our moderator is about to post my own written contribution to the list, I thought that this was as good a time as any to formally acquaint myself to you all. I am an A.B.D. ("All But Dissertation") candidate in the Religion, Ethics, and Society program at Vanderbilt University (BTW, if you are interested in learning about this program you can point web browser to "http://www.library.vanderbilt.edu/divinity/bibs/guibib.html" for an overview). I am in what I hope are the final stages of writing my dissertation, "The Discourse Ethics of Religious-Based Voluntary Organizations in North American Metropolitan Political Economies." In my research I focus on Metro Nashville and a neo-Alinskyite organization of 40 congregations and neighborhood associations called "Tying Nashville Together." Besides providing a history of the development of TNT and an analysis of metropolitan politics, I also analyze IAF organizing philosophies from the perspective of resource mobilization theory (currently popular in sociology of religion circles) and the field of discourse ethics introduced by Jurgen Habermas and further developed by Seyla Benhabib. The significant claim I make with regard to these two frames of analysis is that while resource mobilization provides an effective interpretation of what occurs in neo-Alinskyite efforts in metropolitan areas (especially in light of its philosophical parallels with the organizing methodologies of IAF), utilitarian sensibilities on self-interest only take researchers and organizers so far in understanding and implementing democratic processes. I argue, on the other hand, that discourse ethics -- insofar as it provides a universalizable definition of interest based on the reflexive behavior of discourse as well as a corresponding interactive ethic for public debate -- is better suited than the utilitarian frames for both analyzing broad-based organizations and weighing the validity of their ethical claims. From the perspective of religious studies, discourse ethics also provides a more plausible explanation of the influence of religious identities and discourse on public debate as well as democratic and ethical principles for guiding action with regard to religion in the public square. Above all, discourse ethics provides both a description of and prescription on the ways people reached shared conceptions of the common good. Besides these research interests, I also have a history of participation and leadership in political organizing. As an undergrad I was involved in the Nuclear Freeze Movement and was a student lobbyist to the Texas State Legislature on behalf of independent colleges and universities. As a seminary student in Louisville, Kentucky I spent my field placement at the Council on Peacemaking and Religion, heading up a program for organizing peace and justice groups in Baptist churches as well as coordinating ecumenical, interracial projects among area congregations. In graduate school, besides being an active participant in TNT, I also coordinate undergraduate service-learning projects for a community service program in Vanderbilt's Office of Housing and Residential Education. For the past seven years I have also worked as a consultant for the Project to End Abuse through Counseling and Education, an organization designed to re-educate men convicted of domestic violence (started by the women's shelter movement; currently funded by Metro government and the United Way). I also belong to a newly formed group here in the southeast of academics and grassroots organizers committed to making research findings accessible to community-based organizations and defining more democratic avenues for higher education (e. g., Paulo Freire's "critical pedagogy"). After graduation, I intend to pursue a career in teaching, although I can very easily see myself also doing some sort of research and consulting for political organizations or interest groups as well as writing. Regardless, I will also continue to be involved in community-based organizing. In closing, I would like to say that this electronic discussion has been one of my personal favorites and I've learned a great deal from the insights of both academics and nonacademics. Also, kudos to Wendy Plotkin, who has made this endeavor quite successful, IMCO. Michael Byrd Religion, Ethics, and Society Vanderbilt University [Ed: Michael's paper, "YOU WILL REBUILD YOUR ANCIENT RUINS": RELIGION, THE IAF, AND COMMUNITY-BASED ORGANIZING IN METROPOLITAN NASHVILLE is available at http://h-net2.msu.edu/~urban/comm-org/byrd/iaf.html -- W. Plotkin, COMM-ORG]