Organizing for survival and social change: The case of streetwise |
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Authors: | Lynn M Harter Autumn Edwards Andrea McClanahan Mark C Hopson Evelyn Carson‐Stern |
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Institution: | 1. Assistant Professor in the School of Communication Studies , Ohio University , Lasher Hall 211, Athens, OH, 45701 Phone: 740–593–4830 E-mail: harter@ohio.edu;2. Doctoral student in the School of Communication Studies , Ohio University;3. Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Studies , East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania |
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Abstract: | This study explores how members of StreetWise organize for survival and social change. Through the publication of a street journal by the same name, StreetWise provides employment opportunities for men and women without homes. Using feminist principles of organizing as a backdrop, we highlight the discursive moves that (1) reinforce StreetWise's standpoint as counter to the practices and structures of the dominant culture, and (2) provide alternative ways of thinking about issues of poverty and homelessness. We highlight tensions that emerge between the dialectic of survival and social change, and in so doing position StreetWise as an “alternative discourse community” that develops counterdiscourses amidst cultural and material constraints. We work toward locating how members negotiate organizational irrationalities through moral deliberation. |
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