On the Importance of (Re-)theorizing Black Civic Engagement

Civic engagement has long stood as a central concept in social science scholarship, especially in the American social and political contexts. Indeed, many scholars have argued that civic engagement – i.e. involvement of individuals or groups in actions that promote the improvement of and change in their communities – has played a key role in democratic development and success. The beneficial effects of civic engagement at the individual, community and societal levels have also been widely acknowledged.

However, as Candice C. Robinson (PhD Candidate in Sociology at the University of Pittsburgh) stresses in this important recent article,  much of existing civic engagement scholarship draws primarily on the experiences of White individuals. Laying out the ways in which previous scholarship fails to account for how structural inequalities within societies, organizations and associations impact forms of, and possibilities for, civic engagement among Black Americans, Robinson calls for a (re-)theorization of civic engagement that encompasses Black Americans’ experiences. Such (re-)theorization of Black civic engagement, in turn, holds great potential in advancing scholarship about and understandings of racialized dynamics in social movement mobilization.

From Collective Behavior to Civic Engagement—and Back

Do you wonder if Riddle and Carroll were changed by their student government experience? I do. [Photo by Jorge1767 [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons]

Most of my current research surrounds a single question: what impact do voluntary associations have on the participants within them? The topic sits under the broad theoretical umbrella of civil society, at the intersection of research on social movements, civic engagement, political participation, interest groups, nonprofits, and, of course, associations (you’ll find books like Theda Skocpol’s Diminished Democracy on the signpost at that intersection). Empirically, I’ve looked at a wide range of groups and participants, and I am currently developing a new research tool suitable for collecting data on the inner-workings of groups spanning from hunger activists to prayer circles to improv comedy troupes. Why such a broad scope? To understand, it helps to know how I got here.