The Quakers

LGBTIQ+ Activism and Institutional Cohesion

Authors

  • Joshua Boland University of Tasmania

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/jasr.20746

Keywords:

Quakerism, Symbolism, Social Activism, Same-sex marriage, Religious Society of Friends

Abstract

Liberal Quakerism’s engagement with the public sphere acts as a mechanism for producing social solidarity within the movement. This argument is demonstrated through an examination of Quaker engagement with Queer social issues in the UK, US and Australia. The social activism of Quakers sustains their identity as a liberal religious organisation sympathetic to progressive causes and nurtures a sense of common purpose within the movement that subsumes internal differences. It is argued that, while Quaker orthopraxis within the Society binds internal diversity together, this can also include Friends’ activist engagement with the secular world. This focus on the dialectical relationship between Quakerism’s internal culture and external social processes suggest that a dynamic relationship exists between contemporary secularism and liberal religious groups.

Author Biography

  • Joshua Boland, University of Tasmania

    Joshua Boland is a sociologist and researcher with interests in religion, social policy, social theory, education and Indigenous issues. He recently completed a PhD analysing the public and discursive responses of religious institutions to same-sex marriage. He is also currently undertaking an applied Master of Teaching (Secondary) at the University of Tasmania.

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Published

2021-10-01

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Boland, J. . (2021). The Quakers: LGBTIQ+ Activism and Institutional Cohesion. Journal for the Academic Study of Religion, 34(2), 180–202. https://doi.org/10.1558/jasr.20746