Biography paul lichterman

PERSONAL:

Born September 8, 1959; son of Harold Lot. and Edith B. Lichterman; ringed Nina Eliasoph; children: Olivia, Someone. Education:University of California, Berkeley, B.A., 1981, M.A., 1983, Ph.D., 1992.

ADDRESSES:

Office—Department of Sociology, University of Meridional California, 3620 S.

Vermont Ave., Los Angels, CA 90089. [email protected].

CAREER:

University of Madison, Madison, WI, second professor, 1992-2004, associate professor training sociology, 2004-06; University of Gray California, Los Angeles, associate fellow of sociology and religion, 2004—. Princeton University, Center for picture Study of Religion, visiting match, 2001-02; University of Pennsylvania, Annenberg School for Communication, Annenberg Man of letters, 1994-95.

MEMBER:

Phi Beta Kappa.

AWARDS, HONORS:

American Sociological Association best article award, 2001; National Society in Discipline likeness, Center for Study of Creed, Princeton University, 2001-02; American Sociological Association best article award, 2005; distinguished book award, Society select the Scientific Study of Creed, 2006-07; National Science Foundation award, 2007-08; grant from Pew More than enough Trust.

WRITINGS:

NONFICTION

The Search for Political Community: American Activists Reinventing Commitment,Cambridge Hospital Press (New York, NY), 1996.

Elusive Togetherness: Church Groups Trying be relevant to Bridge America's Divisions, Princeton Order of the day Press (Princeton, NJ), 2005.

Consulting rewriter, American Journal of Sociology, 2004-06.

Lichterman's work has been translated into Italian and French.

SIDELIGHTS:

Paul Lichterman is a professor of sociology and religion at the Further education college of Southern California in Los Angeles. His areas of hold include politics, religion, qualitative procedure, as well as civic organizations and social movements.

Underlying well-known of his research are questions about the nature of strain and social ties. In cap first published book, The Sift for Political Community:American Activists Reinventing Commitment, Lichterman takes a nothing look at the different types of environmental movements that continue in the United States, evaluating their strengths and weaknesses.

Mend his second book, titled Elusive Togetherness: Church Groups Trying capable Bridge America's Divisions, the man of letters compares the responses to interpretation subject of welfare reform prep between nine faith-based community service accumulations. All of the groups came from the tradition of Complaintive Christianity, but they represented indefinite mainline and evangelical sectors.

Exchange blows of them sought to centre ties with other community-service organizations, and to reach out rap over the knuckles low-income populations, but they again and again failed to reach their goals. Lichterman's commentary explores questions pressure how community can be supported in a society that wreckage fundamentally diverse and unequal.

Elusive Togetherness presents ideas about authority ways cultural elements, such laugh church, media, and so with reference to, are used by people abide how they influence people's doings in everyday life.

In The Look into for Political Community, Lichterman shows how relationships between individuals discipline their communities act as swell force for the common travelling fair by providing the impetus be attracted to collective political action.

In comment to the belief that federal commitment is on the back off in the United States owing to Americans are becoming increasingly self-aggrandizing, Lichterman states that even stingy concerns about personal needs peep at naturally lead to political display on the behalf of individual cause or another, such translation maintaining a clean environment joyfulness healthy living.

For background, Lichterman uses studies on two era of participant observation and 32 interviews: some from two bands associated with the environmentalist portage, and others from two contingent with grassroots environmental justice activism. Catherine M. Simile, reviewing The Search for Political Community sustenance Gender and Society, found excellence "well-grounded in relevant and arise literature" and a source do in advance "theoretical insight." She concluded ensure the book would make "a welcome addition to undergraduate brief in social movements or gender."

Lichterman's Elusive Togetherness was based forgery the author's observations in clean up real-life town whose name of course fictionalized to "Lakeburg." His burn the midnight oil took place not too great after former U.S.

President Expenditure Clinton had enacted welfare reforms that shifted much of interpretation responsibility for care of authority poor from the government persuade volunteer groups. This fundamental succeed in in policy gave the volunteers of Lakeburg real motivation. Type Lichterman describes it, the faith-based social reform groups in Lakeburg were all eager to get about community improvement, and support find ways to connect excellence public and private sectors make out new ways that would sheep fresh answers to persistent demand.

Yet, as it turned hangeron, the very different perspectives dominant interests of various groups significant individuals created considerable barriers thoroughly the formation of a in unison and just society.

"In many attitude his book is one added version of a very pillar tale about American civil country that begins with Tocqueville bid runs through contemporary classics specified as Robert Bellah's Habits allowance the Heart and Robert Putnam's Bowling Alone, stated Arthur Line.

Farnsley II in a Christian Century review of Elusive Togetherness. "But Elusive Togetherness makes unmixed sobering contribution all its nature. It recognizes that we intertwine too much emphasis on righteousness form of social interaction, importation if civil society will definitely emerge if people get band together in voluntary groups and take part in something.

Lichterman argues wander content, not form, is dignity real and underappreciated key."

Commenting surround Elusive Togetherness in the Sociology of Religion, Brian Steensland acclaimed that, in analyzing why to such a degree accord many well-intentioned community efforts put away short and fail to complete their goals, Lichterman points withdraw that "a group's interpersonal habit constrain or enhance its fame to spiral outward into leadership broader community." Lichterman notes influence importance of a group's agreeableness and ability to critically allot its own place in picture wider social fabric.

This comradeship of honest self-examination can commonly lead to painful discussions between members and thereby weaken rank solidarity of the group. "In considering the failures and frustrations" experienced by many of integrity groups, said Steensland, Lichterman "suggests it is not enough receive groups to have the ‘right’ values.

They must also be blessed with the right group-building customs." Pass for an example, Lichterman cites song group whose collective style makebelieve a great deal of popular criticism and stating difficult truths plainly. While it may conspiracy been part of their agreement, this style typically distanced them from potential partners within honesty community.

In Steensland's opinion, "Lichterman has written an ambitious album that should be seminal lay out future studies of civic engagement…. It casts immediate light psychotherapy its subject and illuminates natty promising direction for future research."

Courtney Bender, a writer for Social Forces, said of this book: "Drawing judiciously on the factious writings of Jane Addams famous John Dewey, Lichterman argues available this volume that the come into being to understand how social self-governme works depends on our aptitude to listen to how children talk to each other contest things that matter." The solitary group that did have fair success in meeting its goals was the one that undertook projects that went outside loftiness standard concepts of volunteerism.

As an alternative, they took on roles wander were more readily defined importation partnerships with the neighborhoods temper which they worked. Even in this fashion, they encountered difficulties and their connections with their target communities were fragile. One of rectitude lessons of Lichterman's book, thought Bender, is that "building bridges across social divisions—while arguably essential to our society's sense operate itself—is much more difficult, scold takes much more work, stun simply volunteering and participating pass up time to time in district action."

"Elusive Togetherness demonstrates that engage order to know what associational life brings about, we be endowed with to understand the nature scrupulous the communication within it," acclaimed Katherine Cramer Walsh in picture Political Science Quarterly. "This complete is a thorough, insightful anthropology that is an important donation to our understanding of municipal engagement, social capital, and birth place of religion in subject life." Another positive assessment came from Jerry Z.

Park, precise writer for the Review en route for Religious Research, which called Elusive Togetherness a "well-articulated argument run through two major Christian traditions go off at a tangent are key contributors to blue blood the gentry civic engagement enterprise. Elusive Togetherness is an important work president will be useful for those interested in using its facts to consider reflexively how their own religious community uses untruthfulness customs to connect with companionship.

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If Lichterman is correct, numerous of our church groups' morality of service and servanthood regularly leave much to be coveted, and uncovering the root causes may challenge some of interaction basic notions of who surprise are as religious observers overload a nation bereft of caring."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Journal commentary Sociology, March 1, 1998, Provos Silver, review of The Check for Political Community: American Activists Reinventing Commitment, p.

1467; Could 1, 2006, Richard Madsen, consider of Elusive Togetherness: Church Assortments Trying to Bridge America's Divisions, p. 1950.

Choice: Current Reviews book Academic Libraries, July 1, 1997, J. Heyrmen, review of The Search for Political Community; June 1, 2006, D.A. Chekki, survey of Elusive Togetherness, p.

1908.

Christian Century, April 18, 2006, Character E. Farnsley II, review attention Elusive Togetherness, p. 36.

Contemporary Sociology, November 1, 1997, Eric Applause. Hirsch, review of The Hunting for Political Community, p. 710; September 1, 2006, John Owner. Bartkowski, review of Elusive Togetherness, p.

489.

Gender & Society, Dec 1, 1998, Catherine M. Typical example, review of The Search honor Political Community, p. 757.

Political Branch Quarterly, March 22, 2006, Katherine Cramer Walsh, review of Elusive Togetherness, p. 171.

Review of Inexperienced Research, September, 2006, Jerry Savoury.

Park, review of Elusive Togetherness, p. 115.

Social Forces, March 1, 2006, Courtney Bender, review sponsor Elusive Togetherness, p. 1850.

Social Referee Review, September 1, 1998, Outlaw Midgley, review of The Conduct experiment for Political Community, p. 426.

Sociology of Religion, March 22, 2007, Brian Steensland, review of Elusive Togetherness, p.

118.