Publications

Munn, Christopher W. 2017. The One Friend Rule: Race and Social Capital in an Interracial Network. Social Problems. doi: 10.1093/socpro/spx020

Dissertation

Race, Social Capital, and Inequality (Re)Production:

The Case of Racially Diverse Religious Organizations

Co-Advisors: Korie L. Edwards & Vincent Roscigno

Race, Social Capital, and Inequality (Re)Production will explore how leaders of racially-diverse religious organizations exercise power in exchange relationships with their members, peers, and institutions. These relationships, often called “social capital,” are social ties that serve as conduits through which social and material resources move. I will explore whether systematic structures of racial inequality influence how pastors access and mobilize resources within their social networks.

This dissertation will expand existing theoretical frameworks about social stratification mechanisms with three foci: 1) the extent to which leaders of diverse organizations “sell” diversity to mobilize resources in their networks, 2) why leaders experience social capital inequality and 3) how diversity strategies shape the personal networks of members.

Data for this study come from The Religious Leadership and Diversity Project (RLDP)—a national study of religious leaders of multiracial churches. The data includes in-depth interviews conducted with 123 head clergy of racially diverse churches from over two dozen religious denominations and associations and supplementary interview data from church members and leaders in religious denominations or associations. This dissertation will contribute to the fields of race, religion, non-profit leadership, diversity, social capital, inequality, social networks and organizations.