TELL US YOUR STORIES
Share Your Recollections About the Ford Foundation HERE
MEMBER FORUMS
Affinity Groups (2) |
Events (5) |
Volunteers (2) |
Classifieds () |
Recollections (1) |
 |
NEWSLETTER
|
Robert Bellah: A Bit of FF History By Willard J. Hertz
When Robert Bellah, one of the most influential sociologists of the past half century and the pre-eminent scholar of religion in America, died July 30 in California, his death triggered the release of a flood of obituaries in the mass media and the academic press.
But we could find no mention of the pivotal role of the Ford Foundation in the birth of Bellah’s best-known book, Habits of the Heart.
How did the interests of the Foundation, with no program interest in religion, intersect with Bellah’s interests? With the assistance of LAFFer Dick Sharpe, who was centrally involved, here are the little-known facts:
In 1967, while a professor of sociology at Harvard, Bellah won scholarly acclaim with an essay “Civil Religion in America”, which examined how U.S. political figures use religious symbolism. The article injected the phrase “civil religion” into the discussion of the place of religion in a pluralistic, and supposedly secular, society.
Appointed the Ford Professor of Sociology at the University of California at Berkeley, Bellah published a series of books and articles on how religion shapes ethical, cultural and political practices. In the words of Raka Ray, then sociology chair at Berkeley, “Not only did his scholarship transform the way we think about religion, American civic life, and the common good, but his teaching and mentoring shaped generations of scholars in the field.”
In 1985, Bellah published his most influential work, Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life. Produced by a team of scholars of which Bellah was the leader and primary editor, the book discussed how religion contributes to and detracts from America’s common good. It discussed the implications of religion in such fields as values, marriage and family, religious affiliation, television, business leadership, public service, new individualism and today’s metropolitan world.
Reflecting its encyclopedic range, the University of California Press reported that the book sold more copies than any other book it had ever published. In a new preface to the second edition, issued in 1996, the publishers added the following comment:
“Habits of the Heart continues to be one of the most discussed interpretations of modern American society, a quest for a democratic community that draws on our diverse civic and religious traditions. The authors relate the arguments of the book both to the current realities of American society and to the growing debate about the country’s future. With this new edition one of the most influential books of recent times takes on a new immediacy. ”
The role of the Foundation and Dick Sharpe was recognized in the preface to the first edition:
“In an ambitious and lengthy research project such as this one, there are inevitably many whose help was crucial and many to thank. Richard Sharpe, then of the Ford Foundation, was responsible in 1978 for the initial suggestion that led to the formulation of the project.
“Major funding came from the National Endowment for the Humanities. . . .Matching grants came from the Ford Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation.”
How and why did Ford get involved? The project had come to the Foundation’s attention through the Public Policy Committee, an inter-program body established in 1972, of which Doc Howe (Education Vice President) was chair and Dick the responsible program officer. The committee had long had an interest in making the social sciences “more relevant,” inspired particularly by Crawford Goodwin, an economist in the European and International Affairs program. One of the committee’s concerns was that the social sciences were too focused on making themselves more scientific, with an emphasis on quantitative methodologies that increasingly seemed removed from the real world.
More specifically, the committee sought ways to encourage social scientists to take a more humanistic approach to their work. The Foundation received several proposals, each emphasizing a humanistic approach to interesting social questions. However, while the proposals were impressive as individual projects, they did not seem to hold sufficient promise or impact to warrant committee support.
The committee then received a proposal from Bellah for a book that would argue for a more humanistic approach to the social sciences in a number of fields. The proposal fit with the committee’s objectives, but still seemed too limited, too much a vehicle to convey Bellah’s opinions. However, it occurred to Dick that the subjects and humanistic methodologies proposed for other studies could provide the missing “meat” for the entire group.
Dick followed up with Bellah, he contacted the others, and they all hit it off as a team effort. The Foundation responded with a $25,000 grant to Berkeley for the expanded project, consolidating several of the proposals. The rest is history.
Its impact notwithstanding, the Bellah project did not lead immediately to any further Foundation interest in religion. In 2007, however, the Foundation launched a new initiative, Religion in the Public Sphere, under the leadership of Sheila Greeve Daveney, previously a professor of theology at the Iliff School of Theology in Denver, and a specialist on religion’s public role in a diverse society. Although Daveney left the Foundation in 2011, the initiative continues as part of the Foundation’s Freedom of Expression program.
In 2013, the Foundation issued the following statement about the initiative:
“The goal of this work is to increase the presence and effectiveness of diverse religious perspectives dedicated to social justice.
“Religion has always played a central role in American public life. In recent times, this role has increased notably as religious voices influence policy decisions, debates on values and morality, and the public policy agenda. These developments provide an opportunity to broaden the religious perspectives in the public sphere.
“Our work encourages a rigorous and informed public engagement of religion and its role in the U.S. public sphere. Progressive religious leaders and groups provide moral leadership, social capital and institutional resources dedicated to social justice and equity. We focus on: strengthening justice-oriented, faith-based groups, coalitions and leaders; elevating the public debate around religion through diversifying and enhancing media coverage of religion; and supporting research and development of innovative ideas and strategies that contribute to religious-oriented work for a more just society.”
|
