Professional performances on a well-constructed stage: The case of an institutionalized advocacy organization

Abstract

As homelessness emerged as a major social problem in the 1980s, grassroots activists and anti-poverty advocates clamored for both structural change and immediate aid for those experiencing homelessness (Imig 1996; Wright 1997; Hopper 2003). Only the latter demand was met: federal and local governments boosted emergency aid systems, leading to the expansion and institutionalization of homeless shelter and service-providing organizations across the country (Wright et al., 1998). Today, many of these contracted nonprofit organizations continue to describe themselves as advocacy organizations that speak on behalf of homeless people and work to end homelessness. I use qualitative methods to investigate the nature of homeless advocacy by homeless service providers and to explore the following questions: What role can institutionalized social movement organizations play in the political arena? What effect does a nonprofit organization's dependence on public sector funding have on its mandate to do strong advocacy? © 2007 Springer-Verlag New York.