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FormatJournal Article
Author, AnalyticDemerath III, N. J.//Thiessen, Victor
Title, AnalyticOn Spitting against the Wind: Organizational Precariousness and American Irreligion
Journal TitleAmerican Journal of Sociology
Date of PublicationMay 1966
Volume ID71
Issue ID6
Location in Work674-687
AbstractFrom the abstract: This is an analysis of a small-town Wisconsin free-thought movement [Freie Gemeinde of Sauk City] and its response to organizational dilemmas arising out of its irreligion. More particularly, it is an analysis of organizational 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.
Call NumberMKI P2006-20
MKI TermsFreethinkers/ Sauk City (Wis.)/ German Americans -- Wisconsin/ Social aspects/ Societies, etc./ Schroeter, Eduard, 1811-1888/ Sociology