Catholic Worker Economics
Subsistence and Resistance Strategies of Householding
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/bsor.v40i1.003Keywords:
Catholic Worker, householding, capitalism, resistance, persistence, social movement, religionAbstract
The Catholic Worker employs subsistence and resistance economic strategies to survive, but also protest a capitalist system. Householding, originally a concept developed by Karl Polanyi, illustrates an economic system that allows marginalized organizations to survive within a capitalistic system through innovative techniques such as sharing, pooling of resources and living close to poverty (intentionally or not). The Catholic Worker strategies demonstrate a flexibility and viability made possible by its decentralized structure. Lastly, the Catholic Worker illustrates the viability of householding as an organizational strategy.
References
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Baum, Gregory. 1996 . Karl Polanyi on Ethics and Economics. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press.
Betten, Neil. 1970. "Social Catholicism and the Emergence of Catholic Radicalism in America." Journal of Human Relations 18 (1): 710-27.
———. 1971. "The Great Depression and the Activities of the Catholic Worker Movement." Labor History 12: 243-58.
Casa Maria (Milwaukee) Catholic Worker. http://casa-maria worker.wikispaces.com/
Catholic Worker.http://www.catholicworker.org.
Cleaver, Richard G. 1993. New Heaven, New Earth: Practical Essays on the Catholic Worker Program. Marion, SD: Rose Hill Books.
Cogley, John. 1959. "Laborer in the Vineyard." New York Times, October 25.
Cornell, Tom. 2005. “Anarchism in the Catholic Worker Tradition." http://www.catholicworker.org/roundtable/essaytext.cfm?Number=91
Cornell, Thomas C., Robert Ellsberg, and Jim Forest,eds. 1995. Penny a Copy: Readings from the Catholic Worker. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books.
Coy, Patrick G. 1988. A Revolution of the Heart: Essays on the Catholic Worker. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
———. 2001. "An Experiment in Personalist Politics: The Catholic Worker Movement and Non-Violent Action." Peace & Change 26 (1): 78-94.
Day, Dorothy. 1964. “On Pilgrimage.” The Catholic Worker, May, 5-6.
———. 1983. Loaves and Fishes. San Francisco: Harper & Row.
Dietrich, Jeff and Katherine Temple. 1991. "Born Again Catholic Workers: A Conversation between Jeff Dietrich and Katherine Temple." The Ellul Studies Forum 7: 7-9.
Ellsburg, Robert, ed. 1983 By Little and By Little: The Selected Writings of Dorothy Day. New York: Knopf.
Ellul, Jacques. 1984. Money and Power. Westmont, Ill.: InterVarsity.
Forest, Jim. 1986. Love is the Measure: A Biography of Dorothy Day. New York: Paulist Press.
Gregory, Chris. 2009. "Whatever Happened to Householding?" In Market and Society: The Great Transformation Today, edited by Chris Hann and Keith Hart, 133-59. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Halperin, Rhoda H. 1991. "Karl Polanyi’s Concept of Householding: Resistance and Livelihood in an Appalachian Region." Research in Economic Anthropology 13: 93-116.
———. 1994. Cultural Economies Past and Present. Austin: University of Texas Press.
———.1998. Practicing Community: Class Culture and Power in an Urban Neighborhood. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Henneberger, Melinda. 1992. "In Changing World, the Catholic Workers Hew to Their Course." New York Times, October 8.
Hereida, Christopher. 2005. "Charity Begins at Home: Couple Reaches Out to Poor from Coastside Neighborhood." San Francisco Chronicle, March 4. http://www.sfgate.com/cgibin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/03/04/PNG21BI8M21.DTL
Matthei, Chuck and Joanne Sheehan. 2001. "Toward a Nonviolent Economics. Nonviolent Activist," May-June. http://www.warresisters.org/nva0501-2.htm
Maurin, Peter. 1961. The Green Revolution. Fresno: Academy Guild Press.
———. 1984. Easy Essays. Chicago: Franciscan Herald Press.
McKanan, Dan. 2006. “Honoring the Journey: The Wayward Paths of Conversion in the Catholic Worker and Camphill Movements.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 74: 926-53.
———. 2007. “The Family, the Gospel and the Catholic Worker.” The Journal of Religion 87: 153-82.
———. 2008. The Catholic Worker After Dorothy: Practicing the Works of Mercy in a New Generation. Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press.
———. 2009. “Inventing the Catholic Worker Family.” Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture 76: 84-113.
Nepstad, Sharon Erickson. 2004. "Persistent Resistance: Commitment and Community in the Plowshares Movement." Social Problems 51: 43-60.
O’Brien, David J. 1968. American Catholics and Social Reform: The New Deal Years. New York: Oxford University Press.
O’Grady, Jim. 2000., "The Givers." New York Times August 13.
Pederson, Mary Nevans. 2004. "A Simpler Life: Family Chooses Frugal, Self-Sustaining Existence at Catholic Worker Farm." Dubuque, Iowa Telegraph Herald, November 7.
Peterson, Jean Treloggen. 1989."Interhousehold Exchange and the Public Economy in Three Highland Philippine Communities." Research in Economic Anthropology 11: 123-42.
Polanyi, Karl. 2001. The Great Transformation. Boston: Beacon Press.
Richardson, Scott. 2003. "From a $5 Donation to a Quarter of a Century: Clare House Celebrates 25 Years of Serving." The Pantagraph (Bloomington, IL), September 21, B1.
Riegle Troester, Rosalie. 1993. Voices from the Catholic Worker. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Schaeffer-Duffy, Scott. 2009. Email correspondence with author. 5-6 June.
Schumacher E.F. 1973. "Buddhist Economics." Pp. 56-66 in Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered. London, UK: Blond and Riggs.
Scott, James C. 1976. The Moral Economy of the Peasant: Rebellion and Subsistence in Southeast Asia. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Segers, Mary C. 1978. "Equality and Christian Anarchism: The Political and Social Ideas of the Catholic Worker Movement." The Review of Politics 40/2, 196-230.
Stanfield, J. Ronald. 1986. The Economic Thought of Karl Polanyi: Lives and Livelihood. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
Sicius, Francis. 1988. "The Chicago Catholic Worker." In Patrick G. Coy (ed.), A Revolution of the Heart: Essays on the Catholic Worker, 313-36. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
Thorn, William, Phillip Runkel and Susan Mountin. (eds.) 2001. Dorothy Day Centenary Essays. Milwaukee, WI: University of Marquette Press.
Zwick, Mark and Louise Zwick. 2005. The Catholic Worker Movement: Intellectual and Spiritual Origins. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press.
Baum, Gregory. 1996 . Karl Polanyi on Ethics and Economics. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press.
Betten, Neil. 1970. "Social Catholicism and the Emergence of Catholic Radicalism in America." Journal of Human Relations 18 (1): 710-27.
———. 1971. "The Great Depression and the Activities of the Catholic Worker Movement." Labor History 12: 243-58.
Casa Maria (Milwaukee) Catholic Worker. http://casa-maria worker.wikispaces.com/
Catholic Worker.http://www.catholicworker.org.
Cleaver, Richard G. 1993. New Heaven, New Earth: Practical Essays on the Catholic Worker Program. Marion, SD: Rose Hill Books.
Cogley, John. 1959. "Laborer in the Vineyard." New York Times, October 25.
Cornell, Tom. 2005. “Anarchism in the Catholic Worker Tradition." http://www.catholicworker.org/roundtable/essaytext.cfm?Number=91
Cornell, Thomas C., Robert Ellsberg, and Jim Forest,eds. 1995. Penny a Copy: Readings from the Catholic Worker. Maryknoll, N.Y.: Orbis Books.
Coy, Patrick G. 1988. A Revolution of the Heart: Essays on the Catholic Worker. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
———. 2001. "An Experiment in Personalist Politics: The Catholic Worker Movement and Non-Violent Action." Peace & Change 26 (1): 78-94.
Day, Dorothy. 1964. “On Pilgrimage.” The Catholic Worker, May, 5-6.
———. 1983. Loaves and Fishes. San Francisco: Harper & Row.
Dietrich, Jeff and Katherine Temple. 1991. "Born Again Catholic Workers: A Conversation between Jeff Dietrich and Katherine Temple." The Ellul Studies Forum 7: 7-9.
Ellsburg, Robert, ed. 1983 By Little and By Little: The Selected Writings of Dorothy Day. New York: Knopf.
Ellul, Jacques. 1984. Money and Power. Westmont, Ill.: InterVarsity.
Forest, Jim. 1986. Love is the Measure: A Biography of Dorothy Day. New York: Paulist Press.
Gregory, Chris. 2009. "Whatever Happened to Householding?" In Market and Society: The Great Transformation Today, edited by Chris Hann and Keith Hart, 133-59. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Halperin, Rhoda H. 1991. "Karl Polanyi’s Concept of Householding: Resistance and Livelihood in an Appalachian Region." Research in Economic Anthropology 13: 93-116.
———. 1994. Cultural Economies Past and Present. Austin: University of Texas Press.
———.1998. Practicing Community: Class Culture and Power in an Urban Neighborhood. Austin: University of Texas Press.
Henneberger, Melinda. 1992. "In Changing World, the Catholic Workers Hew to Their Course." New York Times, October 8.
Hereida, Christopher. 2005. "Charity Begins at Home: Couple Reaches Out to Poor from Coastside Neighborhood." San Francisco Chronicle, March 4. http://www.sfgate.com/cgibin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/03/04/PNG21BI8M21.DTL
Matthei, Chuck and Joanne Sheehan. 2001. "Toward a Nonviolent Economics. Nonviolent Activist," May-June. http://www.warresisters.org/nva0501-2.htm
Maurin, Peter. 1961. The Green Revolution. Fresno: Academy Guild Press.
———. 1984. Easy Essays. Chicago: Franciscan Herald Press.
McKanan, Dan. 2006. “Honoring the Journey: The Wayward Paths of Conversion in the Catholic Worker and Camphill Movements.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 74: 926-53.
———. 2007. “The Family, the Gospel and the Catholic Worker.” The Journal of Religion 87: 153-82.
———. 2008. The Catholic Worker After Dorothy: Practicing the Works of Mercy in a New Generation. Collegeville, Minn.: Liturgical Press.
———. 2009. “Inventing the Catholic Worker Family.” Church History: Studies in Christianity and Culture 76: 84-113.
Nepstad, Sharon Erickson. 2004. "Persistent Resistance: Commitment and Community in the Plowshares Movement." Social Problems 51: 43-60.
O’Brien, David J. 1968. American Catholics and Social Reform: The New Deal Years. New York: Oxford University Press.
O’Grady, Jim. 2000., "The Givers." New York Times August 13.
Pederson, Mary Nevans. 2004. "A Simpler Life: Family Chooses Frugal, Self-Sustaining Existence at Catholic Worker Farm." Dubuque, Iowa Telegraph Herald, November 7.
Peterson, Jean Treloggen. 1989."Interhousehold Exchange and the Public Economy in Three Highland Philippine Communities." Research in Economic Anthropology 11: 123-42.
Polanyi, Karl. 2001. The Great Transformation. Boston: Beacon Press.
Richardson, Scott. 2003. "From a $5 Donation to a Quarter of a Century: Clare House Celebrates 25 Years of Serving." The Pantagraph (Bloomington, IL), September 21, B1.
Riegle Troester, Rosalie. 1993. Voices from the Catholic Worker. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Schaeffer-Duffy, Scott. 2009. Email correspondence with author. 5-6 June.
Schumacher E.F. 1973. "Buddhist Economics." Pp. 56-66 in Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered. London, UK: Blond and Riggs.
Scott, James C. 1976. The Moral Economy of the Peasant: Rebellion and Subsistence in Southeast Asia. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Segers, Mary C. 1978. "Equality and Christian Anarchism: The Political and Social Ideas of the Catholic Worker Movement." The Review of Politics 40/2, 196-230.
Stanfield, J. Ronald. 1986. The Economic Thought of Karl Polanyi: Lives and Livelihood. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
Sicius, Francis. 1988. "The Chicago Catholic Worker." In Patrick G. Coy (ed.), A Revolution of the Heart: Essays on the Catholic Worker, 313-36. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.
Thorn, William, Phillip Runkel and Susan Mountin. (eds.) 2001. Dorothy Day Centenary Essays. Milwaukee, WI: University of Marquette Press.
Zwick, Mark and Louise Zwick. 2005. The Catholic Worker Movement: Intellectual and Spiritual Origins. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press.
Published
2011-03-23
Issue
Section
Articles
How to Cite
Stock, P. (2011). Catholic Worker Economics: Subsistence and Resistance Strategies of Householding. Bulletin for the Study of Religion, 40(1), 16-25. https://doi.org/10.1558/bsor.v40i1.003
