Nonprofits and Advocacy by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
Published: 2014-06-19T00:00:00+00:00

It may not be surprising that, as has been the case before, the need for bodies to fight wars can present political opportunities to members of marginalized groups who can be framed as worthy and constructed as patriots (Schneider and Ingram, 1997). But while rights and policy gains such as the repeal of DADT, benefits for disabled veterans, or the conferral of citizenship to immigrants who serve in the military might be things that, as Gayatri Spivak argues, “we cannot not want,” they also replicate and reinforce narrow and normative racial, gender, class, and nationalist ideals and claims to citizenship (Spivak, 1993, 45–46). Policy changes are often tied to these constructions, of course, but such connections are tightened by links among “worthiness,” “citizenship,” and the “national interest” that are so often heightened during wars, depressions, pandemics, and disasters.

Conclusions

Organizations that advocate on behalf of marginalized groups often represent unpopular or underresourced constituencies, and the issues that they address are frequently divisive and controversial. As a consequence, such organizations typically face significant constraints and often give short shrift to issues affecting intersectionally disadvantaged subgroups of their constituencies, even during relatively untumultuous times. Given the difficulties they face when times are good, it is important to examine how they fare during hard times, such as the period that followed 9/11 or post Hurricane Katrina.

The evidence that I have presented suggests that the crises brought about by events such as 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina do not necessarily mirror their material impact on members of marginalized groups. Rather, they present advocacy organizations with a combination of constraints and opportunities when it comes to addressing the ongoing social, economic, and political issues that affect their marginalized constituents. Comparing the responses of organizations to 9/11 on the one hand and to Hurricane Katrina on the other also reveals that each crisis has had different implications for liberal and conservative advocacy groups. Moreover, while these crises affected the political opportunities and policy windows faced by advocacy groups, my research also suggests that for many organizations, particularly ones that advocate on behalf groups for whom times are “always hard,” the more things change, the more they stay the same. Taken together, the evidence holds several implications for our understandings of advocacy strategies, about the types of issues in which nonprofit groups engage, and about the effects of crises on the political opportunities they present to nonprofit organizations vis-à-vis their members, the policy process, and their roles as advocates for marginalized groups.

First, this study confirms that a sense of urgency can be helpful to an advocacy group, particularly in terms of resource development, member recruitment, and public attention. In particular, since crises can increase the sense of urgency around some kinds of issues, they can present organizations with important opportunities for fundraising, public education, and media outreach. They can also present organizations with opportunities to reinvigorate their relationships with their constituents, as well as to recruit new members. While nonprofit advocacy organizations should certainly be attentive to the potential opportunities presented by crises, they should also be aware of their potential tradeoffs.

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