How does community philanthropy function?: Direct effects of the social problem and the moderating role of community racial diversity

Publication date: Available online 19 April 2019Source: The Social Science JournalAuthor(s): Hyunseok Hwang, Tiffany Amorette YoungAbstractBased upon the existing literatures surrounding collective action and the environmental justice frame, consciousness-raising is a social tool for community constituents facing the hazards of environmental pollution to community health. Environmental pollution is a complex phenomenon that poses grand societal challenges including global implications and locally situated contexts. We believe that locally situated social problems, such as air pollution emissions, influence the functions of community philanthropy, a means of effective collective civic action. By drawing upon resource mobilization theory and organizational ecology theory, this study aims to examine the direct effects of the social problem of environmental pollution to community health and its impact on collective resource mobilization. This is accomplished by analyzing both the organizational growth of the environmental nonprofit sector in terms of the density and aggregated resources at the community level, conceptualized here as community philanthropy. Collective civic action supports environmental activism and is embodied in the shared beliefs, values, and understandings of a community whom seek a legitimate means of collective action; these opportunities are often provided by the nonprofit sector. We also examine the moderating role of community racial diversity on this rel...
Source: The Social Science Journal - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Source Type: research