Interfaith And The Patriots Summary

Ruth Braunstein (2017) was interested in studying “how members of interfaith and the patriots imagined and enacted their roles as active citizens” (23). This book focused on these two opposing groups: Interfaith group, a diverse organization for people with different religious faith and social background; and the patriots, a group of tea party activists which contains mostly white middle class and religious conservatives. Interfaith group is a coalition of diversity that, instead of focusing on their theoretical differences, focused on their similar frustration in society. The patriots is a group that wants to empower normal citizens to a point where they can hold the government accountable and redirects the path of America to the “core principles of the United States Constitution” (3).
Braunstein collected her data through ethnographic fieldwork with Interfaith and the Patriots between 2010 and 2012. She also conducted fifty interviews with participants in the two groups, including repeated interviews with selected core members. During the three years after she left the field, she had follow-up sections with selected participants in both groups to receive regular updates. In her book, she …show more content…
The interfaith included people from upper social class and the patriots have business owner.) Both groups used religion as a mean to offer value and moral guidance; providing a standard of goodness for the society which can solve their problems. She also brought our attention to the two cultural processes that they used to build their identity. They both drew selectively from American culture and history to develop a narrative of active citizenship, and they choose what practices are most appropriate for their course, or their identity. They both are organized in a way to most effectively express their views and opinions on