Description
Book SynopsisIn recent years, a sense of community has declined throughout the United States. This trend is especially evident among younger generations, whether measured by civic participation, political involvement, or religious affiliation. Central Community Churchan intercultural congregation located in Tampa Bay's urban corridorhas responded to this trend by promoting community as an organizational metaphor. The Diversity Paradox: Seeking Community in an Intercultural Church explores the ways in which that metaphor was co-constructed by Central Community's racially/ethnically diverse leaders and members, as well as limitations and tensions that emerged from those efforts. After surveying the three prevailing views of community: community as physical space, community as disembodied concept, and community as communicative process, Jenkins builds upon four years of ethnographic fieldwork in order to fully understand this community. He concludes by introducing an original theoretical concept calle
Trade ReviewFrom the very start of this work, J. Jacob Jenkins addresses some of the key issues involved in diversity: what is really meant by the term, and what characterizes the ideally diverse community. Even as he evokes myriad details of the diverse community studied, Jenkins is relentlessly organized, making his points and findings easy for the reader to follow and avoiding losing the reader in mass data exploration. Writing in depth about a compelling case study of a community seeking to build and maintain diversity, Jenkins takes the reader through the triumphs and struggles the community encounters as it maintains diversity through communication. -- John C. Meyer, University of Southern Mississippi
Table of ContentsChapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Relevant Literature Chapter 3: Research Context Chapter 4: Research Methods Chapter 5: Communicating Community Chapter 6: Disciplining Discourses Chapter 7: Traversing Tensions Chapter 8: Defy(ning) Diversity Chapter 9: Implementing Implications Chapter 10: Conclusion
