Return to search

Formalization in a social movement organization : cooptation or survival? :

Social movement literature suggests that organizations espousing radical ideologies must develop bureaucratic structures in order to survive, changes which inevitably create an organization more concerned with self-maintenance than social transformation. In the Battered Women's Movement, some radical feminists argue that trends toward increased formalization and centralization in feminist collectives provide evidence that the movement has been coopted, and thus radical organizations seeking to challenge inequitable social structures have been transformed into more traditional social service agencies. This thesis examines one shelter for battered women which, due mainly to severe internal conflict, found it necessary to modify its structure from a collective to a hierarchy led by a coordinator. This change led neither to decreased radical ideology nor to an increased focus on organizational maintenance at the expense of socially transformative goals. However, due to a lack of formalized procedures, this outcome largely reflects the personal inclinations of the coordinator.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.20454
Date January 1998
CreatorsNordquist, Karen L.
ContributorsStaggenborg, Suzanne (advisor)
PublisherMcGill University
Source SetsLibrary and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeElectronic Thesis or Dissertation
Formatapplication/pdf
CoverageMaster of Arts (Department of Sociology.)
RightsAll items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated.
Relationalephsysno: 001610460, proquestno: MQ43925, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest.

Page generated in 0.0016 seconds