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Building the Knowledge Base of Nonprofit Management:
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Churches Are Generally Ignored in Contemporary Voluntary Action Research: Causes and Consequences
Abstract
Contemporary research & theory on voluntary action -- both that
focused on individual participation & on voluntary associations as
organizations -- generally ignore religion & religious
institutions, at least in the US & usually elsewhere as well. The
causes of this situation are to be found in historical tendencies for
social science research on the sacred & the secular to be very
clearly separated, & in contemporary tendencies for social science
research to maintain strong disciplinary & topical specialization
boundaries. The negative consequences are both intellectual &
practical. Intellectually, both religious research & voluntary
action research suffer from & are stunted in their growth by their
mutual lack of cross-fertilization of concepts & generalizations.
Practically, religious institutions, their participants, & their
leaders suffer by not being able to utilize voluntary action research
knowledge & activities. Similarly, other types of voluntary
associations are deprived of practically useful techniques &
knowledge accumulated by religious researchers &
practitioners/leaders of the religious community. Ecumenism is needed
not only among religions but also between related research areas such
as religious research & voluntary action research. 15 References.
HA
Journal
(1984)
vol13
no4
pages11-18
Categories
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Nonprofit Service Sectors
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Faith/Religious Communities
