On Spitting Against the Wind: Organization Precariousness and American Irreligion
Author(s)
Demerath, N. J. III; Thiessen, Victor
Abstract
This paper is an analysis of a small-town Wisconsin free-thought movement and its response to organization dilemmas arising out of its irreligion. More particularly, it is an analysis of organization demise. The study isolates a number of variables which help to account for the movement’s history. Several relate to the community context such as vertical and horizontal differentiation. Others concern characteristics of the organization itself, including the social status of the membership, problems of leadership and charisma, the difficulties posed by negative values and goallessness, and the irreconcilability of commitment and recruitment. In each of these respects, the freethinkers offer a distinctive perspective and new propositions for both the sociology of religion and the wider study of organizational dynamics.
