After the 1960s, women, Blacks, and other ethnic groups mapped political objectives onto a more traditional form of voluntary association, along with investing in direct political protest and advocacy for civil and social rights. One result was the development of a hybrid organizational form that combines advocacy and service provision as its core identity and thus faces distinctive environmental uncertainties and boundary conditions. This article provides a community ecology framework for analyzing the development of the service/advocacy organizational form. The author argues that hybrid forms of organization, by expanding the resource infrastructure and legitimacy available to identity-based organizations, play a critical role in anchoring the continued viability of identity-based service organizations under newly politicized conditions. Data are drawn from a study of national women’s and racial and ethnic minority organizations since 1955.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Aldrich, H.
(1979). Organizations and environments. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
2.
Allison, P.
(1984). Event history analysis. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
3.
American Association of Fund Raising Council
. (1988). Giving USA. New York: Author.
4.
Astley, W. G.
(1985). The two ecologies: Population and community perspectives on organizational evolution. Administrative Science Quarterly, 30, 224-241.
5.
Astley, W. G.
, & Fombrun, C. J. (1987). Organizational communities: An ecological perspective. Research in the Sociology of Organizations, 5, 163-185.
6.
Barron, D.
(1992). The analysis of count data: Overdispersion and autocorrelation. In P. V. Marsden (Ed.), Sociological methodology (pp. 179-220). Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.
7.
Baum, J.A.C.
, & Singh, J. V. (1994). Organization-environment coevolution. In J.A.C. Baum & J. V. Singh (Eds.), Evolutionary dynamics of organizations (pp. 379-401). New York: Oxford University Press.
8.
Berry, J.
(1989). The interest group society (2nd ed.). New York: Harper Collins.
9.
Bordt, R.
(1997). The structure of women’s nonprofit organizations. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
10.
Borys, B.
, & Jemison, D. B. (1989). Hybrid arrangements as strategic alliances: Theoretical issues in organizational combinations. Academy of Management Review, 14, 234-249.
11.
Brittain, J.
(1994). Density-independent selection and community evolution. In J.A.C. Baum & J. V. Singh (Eds.), Evolutionary dynamics of organizations (pp. 355-378). New York: Oxford University Press.
12.
Brittain, J. W.
, & Wholey, D. R. (1988). Competition and coexistence in organizational communities: Population dynamics in electronic components manufacturing. In G. R. Carroll (Ed.), Ecological models of organizations (pp. 195-222). Cambridge, MA: Ballinger.
13.
Burstein, P.
(1985). Discrimination, jobs and politics. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
14.
Carroll, G. R.
, Delacroix, J., & Goodstein, J. (1988). The political environments of organizations: An ecological view. Research in Organizational Behavior, 10, 359-392.
15.
Clemens, E.
(1993). Women’s groups and the transformation of U.S. Politics, 1892-1920. American Journal of Sociology, 98, 755-798.
16.
D’Aunno, T.
, Sutton, R. I., & Price, R. (1991). Isomorphism and external support in conflicting institutional environments: A study of drug abuse treatment centers. Academy of Management Journal, 34, 636-661.
17.
Delacroix, J.
, & Rao, H. (1994). Externalities and ecological theory: Unbundling density dependence. In J.A.C. Baum & J. V. Singh (Eds.), Evolutionary dynamics of organizations (pp. 255-268). New York: Oxford University Press.
18.
DiMaggio, P. J.
, & Powell, W. W. (1983). The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields. American Sociological Review, 48, 147-160.
19.
Economic report of the president: January 1989. (1989). Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
20.
Estrada, L. F.
, Garcia, F. C., Macias, R. F., & Maldonado, L. (1988). Chicanos in the United States: A history of exploitation and resistance. In F. C. Garcia (Ed.), Latinos and the political system (pp. 28-64). Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press.
21.
Fombrun, C.
(1986). Structural dynamics within and between organizations. Administrative Science Quarterly, 31, 403-421.
22.
Gamm, G.
, & Putnam, R. D. (1999). The growth of voluntary associations in America, 1840-1940. Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 29(4), 511-557.
23.
Greene, W. H.
(1996). LIMDEP 7.0 [Computer software]. New York: Econometric Software.
24.
Gronbjerg, K.
, Harmon, L., Olkkonen, A., & Raza, A. (1996). The United Way system at the cross-roads: Community planning and allocation. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 25, 428-452.
25.
Hannan, M.
(1991). Theoretical and methodological issues in analysis of density-dependent legitimation in organizational evolution. In P. V. Marsden (Ed.), Sociological methodology (pp. 1-42). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
26.
Hannan, M.
, & Carroll, G. R. (1992). Dynamics of organizational populations. New York: Oxford University Press.
27.
Hannan, M.
, & Freeman, J. (1989). Organizational ecology. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
28.
Hyde, C.
(1992). The ideational system of social movement agencies: An examination of feminist health centers. In Y. Hasenfeld (Ed.), Human services as complex organizations. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
29.
Hyde, C.
(1995). Feminist social movement organizations survive the New Right. In M. Ferree & P. Martin (Eds.), Feminist organizations: Harvest of the new women’s movement. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
30.
Jenkins, J. C.
(1987). Nonprofitorganizations and policy advocacy. In W. Powell (Ed.), The non-profit sector. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
31.
Jenkins, J. C.
, & Ekert, C. M. (1986). Channeling black insurgency. American Sociological Review, 51, 812-829.
32.
King, G.
(1989). Unifying political methodology. New York: Cambridge University Press.
33.
Matthews, N.
(1994). Confronting rape: The feminist anti-rape movement and the state. New York: Routledge.
34.
McAdam, D.
(1982). Political process and the development of black insurgency. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
35.
McAdam, D.
(1995). “Initiator” and “spin-off” movements: Diffusion processes in protest cycles. In M. Traugott (Ed.), Repertoires and cycles of collective action (pp. 217-239). Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
36.
McCarthy, J. D.
, Britt, D. W., & Wolfson, M. (1991). The institutional channeling of social movements by the state in the United States. Research in Social Movements, Conflict, and Change, 13, 45-76.
37.
McCarthy, J. D.
, & Zald, M. N. (1977). Resource mobilization and social movements: Apartial theory. American Journal of Sociology, 82, 1212-1241.
38.
McKelvey, B.
(1982). Organizational systematics: Taxonomy, evolution, classification. Berkeley: University of California Press.
39.
McKelvey, B.
, & Aldrich, H. (1983). Populations, natural selection, and applied organizational science. Administrative Science Quarterly, 28, 101-128.
40.
McPherson, M.
(1983). An ecology of affiliation. American Sociological Review, 48, 519-532.
41.
Minkoff, D. C.
(1993). The organization of survival: Women’s and racial-ethnic voluntary and activist organizations, 1955-1985. Social Forces, 71, 887-908.
42.
Minkoff, D. C.
(1994). From service provision to institutional advocacy: The shifting legitimacy of organizational forms. Social Forces, 72, 943-969.
43.
Minkoff, D. C.
(1995). Organizing for equality: The evolution of women’s and racial-ethnic organizations in America, 1955-1985. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.
44.
Minkoff, D. C.
(1997). The sequencing of social movements. American Sociological Review, 62, 779-799.
45.
Minkoff, D. C.
(1999). Bending with the wind: Strategic change and adaptation by women’s and racial minority organizations. American Journal of Sociology, 104, 1666-1703.
46.
Nee, V.
(1992). Organizational dynamics of market transition: Hybrid forms, property rights, and mixed economy in China. Administrative Science Quarterly, 37, 1-27.
47.
Oberschall, A.
(1978). The decline of 1960s social movements. Research in Social Movements, Conflict and Change, 1, 257-289.
48.
Oliver, P.
, & Marwell, G. (1992). Mobilizing technologies for collective action. In A. D. Morris & C. M. Mueller (Eds.), Frontiers in social movement theory (pp. 251-272). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
49.
Ostrander, S.
(1995). Money for change. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
50.
Pfeffer, J.
, & Salancik, G. (1978). The external control of organizations. New York: Harper and Row.
51.
Powell, W.
(1987). Hybrid organizational arrangements: New form or transitional development?California Management Review, 30, 67-87.
52.
Romanelli, E.
(1989). Organizational birth and population variety: A community perspective on origins. Research in Organizational Behavior, 11, 211-246.
53.
Ruef, M.
(2000). The emergence of organizational forms: A community ecology approach. American Journal of Sociology, 106, 658-714.
54.
Schlozman, K. L.
, & Tierney, J. (1986). Organized interests and American democracy. New York: Harper and Row.
55.
Scott, W. R.
(1987). Organizations: Rational, natural, and open systems (2nd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
56.
Singh, J. V.
, Tucker, D. J., & Meinhard, A. G. (1991). Institutional change and ecological dynamics. In W. W. Powell & P. J. DiMaggio (Eds.), The new institutionalism in organizational analysis (pp. 390-422). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
57.
Smith, S. R.
, & Lipsky, M. (1993). Nonprofits for hire. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
58.
Spalter-Roth, R.
, & Schreiber, R. (1995). Outsider issues and insider tactics: Strategic tensions in the women’s policy network in the 1980s. In M. Ferree & P. Martin (Eds.), Feminist organizations: Harvest of the new women’s movement. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
59.
Staber, U. H.
(1992). Organizational interdependence and organizational mortality in the cooperative sector: A community ecology perspective. Human Relations, 45, 1191-1212.
60.
Staggenborg, S.
(1991). The pro-choice movement. New York: Oxford University Press.
61.
Stinchcombe, A.
(1965). Social structure and organizations. In J. March (Ed.), Handbook of organizations (pp. 142-193). New York: Rand McNally.
62.
Swaminathan, A.
(1995). The proliferation of specialist organizations in the American wine industry, 1941-1990. Administrative Science Quarterly, 40, 653-680.
63.
Tarrow, S.
(1994). Power in movement. New York: Cambridge University Press.
64.
Useem, M.
, & Zald, M. N. (1987). From pressure group to social movement: Efforts to promote the use of nuclear power. In M. N. Zald & J. D. McCarthy (Eds.), Social movements in an organizational society (pp. 273-288). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction.
65.
Walker, J.
(1991). Mobilizing interest groups in America. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
66.
Zald, M. N.
, & McCarthy, J. D. (1980). Social movement industries: Competition and cooperation among movement organizations. Research in Social Movements, Conflict, and Change, 3, 1-20.
