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Pulpits and Policy: The Politics of Black Church-Based Community Development in New York City, 1980-2000 Author: Michael L. Owens Dissertation School: University at Albany-SUNY Pages: 441 Publication Date: January 2001 Availability: Access Number: 10737 Abstract: The visibility of black church-affiliated community development corporations (CDCs) in urban black neighborhoods is high; their reputation for and record of effective physical development is admirable. Yet observers pay no attention to the political side of black church-based community development. Under the expanding regime of devolved and decentralized municipal community development policy-making, black church-affiliated CDCs may be political actors performing key roles in black citizen representation and governance in cities. Social scientists, particularly political scientists, have not studied the roles black church-affiliated CDCs may perform in the service of black citizens political and policy values. Also, they have neglected to examine and assess the impact of black church-affiliated CDCs on city policy making, both the formulation and implementation of city policies. Consequently, the capacity of black church-affiliated CDCs to make city governments more responsive to black interests is unknown. Their ability to function as a vehicle through governments more responsive to black interests is unknown. Their ability to function as a vehicle through which blacks in cities is unidentified. Their relevance to urban black political development at the century's end remains unquestioned. Breaking with the present research on the use and effectiveness of urban black church-affiliated CDCs in altering the conditions in urban black neighborhoods, my research attends to the political effects and consequences of CDCs, both for black citizens and city government. I am studying the part black church-affiliated CDCs can and do lay in the acquisition of political power and policy influence by black citizens through comparative case studies of two black church-affiliated CDCs in New York City; a survey of the city's eleven most politically-active black churches; and a case study of a competing model of black church-affiliated community development found in Baltimore. The aims of my research are to (1) identify the political and policy roles black church-affiliate CDCs may assume in the service of urban black citizens; (2) determine whether black church-affiliated CDCs can be used to make city government more responsive to black citizens; (3) assess whether black church-affiliated CDCs can alter the political opportunity structures in and beyond the bounds of urban black neighborhoods; and (4) critically examine the utility of the black church-affiliated CDC as a mode or vehicle of black citizen participation in city policy formulation and implementation. |
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