DISSERTATION TITLE:
The Culture of Culture Industries: Art, Commerce, and Christian Faith in the Evangelical Culture Industry.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:
Evangelical Christians in the United States have always used popular entertainment to promote their religious message. Charles Wesley (1703-1791) adopted new melodies that drew from popular opera, English folk melodies, and popular drinking songs to write his hymns (Miller 1993). Later, William Booth (1829-1912) used brass instruments and big band sounds during revivals in the late 1870's, setting Christian lyrics to popular secular tunes of the time (Miller 1993). Yet, one could argue that evangelicals have never before used popular entertainment to the extent that they do presently. Today, evangelicals own television stations, publishing houses, and record, clothing, greeting card, and gift companies, all of which produce goods either for other evangelical's entertainment, or for evangelistic purposes. Nancy Ammerman is right when she suggests that "Christian publishing, broadcasting, and selling are, very simply, big business" (1987:115).

Currently, "Christian bookstores" around the country sell bibles, devotionals, novels, music cassettes and CD's, music videos, T-shirts, children's toys, magazines, greeting cards, and comic books, all with an explicit evangelical content. Many of these bookstores belong to the Christian Booksellers Association (CBA), a professional organization that provides marketing advice and networking for member stores. Current estimates hold that there are over 7000 CBA and non-CBA evangelical bookstores in the United States, purchasing their merchandise from over 880 suppliers; 105 of these stores boasted $1 million plus sales in 1995, and it is estimated that CBA member bookstores sell about 3 billion dollars worth of merchandise per year (McDannell 1995; McGraw 1994).

Some of the companies that produce goods for consumption are quite large. Thomas Nelson in Nashville and Zondervan in Grand Rapids, Michigan were listed on NASDAQ as early as 1983 (Griffin 1983). Thomas Nelson, a private evangelical company, is a huge conglomerate which not only produces books, but a large portion of evangelical music as well. The profitability of this market has not gone unnoticed by those outside the evangelical subculture. Several evangelical companies have been purchased by non-evangelical companies over the years. Zondervan was purchased for $57 million in 1988 by Harper & Row (now HarperCollins), ABC/Capital Cities purchased Word Records in 1986, and EMI purchased Sparrow Music in 1992 (McDannell 1995).

Despite its size and profitability, the industry (henceforth "the industry") remains a largely "hidden industry." Few non-evangelicals have ever heard of such popular evangelical entertainment "stars" as Steven Curtis Chapman, Petra, Janette Oke, and Frank Peretti. Fewer yet have ever set foot in an evangelical Christian bookstore, about the only place that sells cultural objects created and produced within the industry. A study of the industry would not only benefit our knowledge of a subculture that is increasingly exerting its influence in the cultural and political spheres of this country, but; it would add to our knowledge of how religious values inform creation, production, and distribution decisions within the industry.

My study lies at the intersection of culture, religion, and work/organizations and relies largely on the sociological literature in these areas. I argue that an organizational (specifically, a "production of culture") approach to the industry is needed to fully understand and appreciate this process. The "production of culture" approach is heavily influenced from studies in organizations and work and focuses on the interrelationship of creators, producers, and distributors rather than individual creators. It suggests that the organizational setting itself shapes and influences how, why, and what type of cultural objects are produced.

Furthermore, the environment in which the culture industry is located plays an important role in a production of culture analysis because the environment largely shapes the structure of the industry. I will be using neo-institutional theory, a theory developed in the sociology of organizations, to explain how the institutional environment shapes the structure of the industry.

Using the industry from 1960 to the present as a case study, I propose the following research question: How do concerns with art, commerce, and ideology interact to shape how objects are created, produced, and distributed? Several smaller questions will need to be addressed to answer fully the main research question. For example, I am interested in (1) how the industry is organized, and how it has been influenced by an evangelical ideology, (2) how this ideology affects decision making within the industry, (3) what tensions characterize this industry as a result of an evangelical ideology, (4) how tensions are recognized and resolved on the part of creators, producers, and distributors, and (5) how has this industry successfully co-opted the sources that supposedly lead to secularization in an industrialized, consumer related society such as our own.

This study is the first full-scale sociological analysis of the industry. My preliminary research has already shown that the interaction between art, commerce, and ideology is important in the decision making process regarding production. Furthermore, I anticipate five tensions as a result of the interaction between art, commerce, and ideology: (1) when industry members attempt to balance the goal of making money with the primary goal of ministry, (2) when industry members attempt to balance a desire to use elements of contemporary culture that is relevant to their target audience without losing their religious distinctiveness, (3) when industry members attempt to balance trying new artistic styles without alienating evangelicals who may feel that only certain traditional styles are acceptable for evangelism, worship, and entertainment, (4) when artists attempt to balance preaching to non-Christians with alienating them and risking a loss of their audience, and (5) when evangelical companies are purchased by secular companies. The secular companies may wish to maximize profits by downplaying elements of ministry, while the evangelical company may wish to balance ministry with profit.

These tensions must be carefully overcome by creators, producers, suppliers, and distributors, and several strategies may be available. I foresee at least three strategies: (1) accommodation- where one of the parties involved in the tension gives into the demands of the other party; (2) resistance- where the parties involved in the tension attempt to resist the pressure to conform to the others' demands; and (3) negotiation- where the parties involved in the tension give into some demands and not others.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY:
Scholars of religion have focused attention on the importance of material objects as a way to understand religion and religious subcultures (Balmer 1993; Flake 1984; Moore 1994). Recently, several scholars have pointed out the need to study evangelical popular culture to better understand the evangelical subculture (Brown 1996; Howard 1992; Howard & Streck 1996; McDannell 1995; Reid 1993; Romanowski 1990, 1992, 1993; Schultze 1991). It is often felt that material religious objects may be a reflection of religious beliefs and values, and that these objects act as spiritual indicators and reinforcers. Thus, one way to understand American religion in general and American evangelicalism in particular is to study the material objects they produce.

For example, McDannell (1995) provides an overview of material religious objects such as drinking glasses, wall decorations, bumper stickers, jewelry, T-shirts, and decorative statues. Her argument is that these objects provide a "visible and tactile" image that helps evangelicals construct and maintain their subculture. The evangelicals that create, produce, and consume these objects wish to form a community that competes with others for social and cultural attention. As McDannell points out, gays put lambda signs on their cars, feminists use the symbol for women, and Christians use the fish. Hence, she agrees with Ammerman (1987) and Hunter (1983) who argue that material objects act as signifiers of evangelical faith, and Christian retailing, like Christian schools, is a further attempt at creating a parallel religious culture to secular America. They suggest that these parallel institutions provide a means through which those in the subculture may share a common faith, ideas, and experiences across geographic locations. This in turn, helps sustain the faith of those in the subculture since they can easily find and identify many others who share their views.

Other researchers have opted to view only one cultural object rather than provide a general overview of the objects produced within the industry. For example, some have shown that Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) is used as a tool to express specific socio-cultural conditions on the part of artists and fans. Howard (1992) argues that CCM often expresses a rejection of society's norms in two primary ways: (1) a critique of modern society at large where ideals such as material accumulation and the status quo may be questioned and ultimately rejected, and (2) a challenge to the Church to resist conformity to modern societal norms and morals in favor of evangelical Christianity. Also, Brown (1996) compares secular and Christian speed/thrash metal music, aggressive styles of heavy metal music, to suggest that while Christian speed/thrash sounds like its secular counterpart, its message embodies strong evangelical themes not found in secular speed/thrash. These themes often encourage evangelical adolescents to "rebel" against a world system that is at odds with their evangelical belief system. The music acts as a cathartic response on the part of adolescents who transcend their frustrations with a social system which is viewed as irrational and upon which they exert little or no control. Similarly, Reid (1993) points out that CCM is often used by teens as a "spiritual reinforcer." He notes that while most studies show that non-evangelical listeners do not comprehend lyrics in secular songs, this does not seem to be the case for those who listen to CCM. Hence, the adolescents in his study seemed to listen to CCM more intensely, thus having a better chance of receiving the message. They often internalize this message, relying on it as: (1) an informing agent that tells them what is and is not acceptable, and (2) an alternative expression of their own religious convictions. Furthermore, Reid notes that these teens may use the music as a form of acceptable entertainment since they can continue to listen to a style of music they like (E.g. heavy metal, punk, ska, etc.) without the anti-Christian message.

All of these studies suggest that the industry is driven by an evangelical worldview. Evangelical consumers buy products that resonate with their prior convictions, and use those products to show others who they are and to reaffirm their own faith. Beliefs and institutions reinforce the differences between evangelical and non-evangelicals and provide alternatives to institutions that are perceived as having already been corrupted. Evangelicals can literally immerse themselves in their own subculture form birth to death. They can be born in evangelical hospitals, educated in evangelical primary, secondary, and post-secondary institutions. They can listen to Christian music, read Christian books, wear clothes made by Christian companies and rent Christian videos. Pollution is prevented and identity is reinforced and maintained.

These studies, though important, are also limited in that they are "demand" related. By demand related, I mean that they explain the emergence and stabilization of the industry from the perspective of the consumer. According to these studies, the industry exists only because it meets the demands that consumers have. While this is important, It is only half of the equation. A "supply" argument should also be made. I would argue that along with consumer demand, one should consider the importance of the structure of the industry as an influencing factor regarding what is created and produced. One should take into account that fact that creators, producers, and distributors must often balance concerns with art, commerce, and ideology.

Recently, Wuthnow (1994) has argued that the study of religion would benefit from a supply side analysis. He suggests that the "production of culture" perspective formulated by social scientists who studied such cultural activity as music, art, museums, and book publishing would fit the bill. This perspective argues that culture does not simply happen or merely exist, rather, it is the result of intentional human activity. These researchers are interested in the organizational structures that produce the cultural objects rather than the cultural object themselves. Likewise, I argue that an approach that takes into consideration the interaction between concerns with art, commerce, and an evangelical ideology is needed to fully understand how production decisions are made. Although the industry is a multi-billion dollar industry dependent upon heavy consumer demand, demand is not the only factor shaping production decisions. The industry's structure and industrial ideologies, the beliefs held by artists, producers, and distributors about what should be produced and how this task should be accomplished also play important roles in shaping material culture.

Hence, this proposed study is significant in several ways. First, this study is the first to provide a complete overview of the industry. Second, my study has implications for the production of other forms of popular culture guided by ideology. For example, the networks of feminist publishers, music labels and women's bookstores face similar tensions as the ones I describe. Third, the study contributes to the growing literature on the sociology of religion, in that it will add to our understanding of the lifestyles and beliefs of American evangelicals. Since it could be argued that material religious objects are reflective of evangelical beliefs and values, and since they act as spiritual reinforcers and indicators, one might also argue that the industry is as responsible for producing cultural expressions of religion as churches and other religious organizations. Thus, this study will provide insight as to how cultural expressions of religion are produced and maintained by for-profit as opposed to non-profit organizations.

Finally, this study examines how concerns with art, commerce, and ideology interact to shape production decisions and outcomes. Tensions often emerge as a result of the interaction between any or all of these three ideals. For example, members may feel they must balance making a profit with a desire to minister. Ethical and religious values may be at odds with, or forced to, interact with artistic and monetary concerns. In short, I am interested in how members within the industry rely on their religious values to alleviate these tensions, ultimately deciding on how and what objects are created and produced for consumption by others. Thus, the usual weaknesses presented by those who focus exclusively on how consumer demand informs creation and production decisions will be addressed and rectified by de-emphasizing consumer demand and stressing the importance of organizational structure and the beliefs and values of those within the industry.

SUMMARY OF PROCEDURE:
I am using six methods of data collection to help me answer my research question. First, a review of the mainstream popular and trade press literature has been conducted. I have already used several key word searches to find articles listed in several indexes, including: The Wilson Humanities Abstracts, The MLA Bibliography, Social Science Abstracts, Sociofile, Business Periodicals, The Readers Guide to Periodical Literature, Infotrac, and The Music Index.

Second, a review of printed material from three entertainment oriented magazines published within the industry has been collected. I have selected CCM (Contemporary Christian Music), Syndicate, and Notebored as the entertainment magazines for my review because they are the largest. These three magazines will give me an idea of how the industry perceives its audiences and their demands, since these materials are geared towards fans.

Third, a review of printed material from two trade oriented journals and one newsletter that are published for the industry have been gathered. This information is written for those working within the industry to keep them apprised of changes and trends within the industry and should help me uncover "inside information" not available in entertainment publications. It will also give me a feel for the structure of the industry and a general feeling of how that structure and an evangelical ideology interact. I have selected CBA Marketplace, Christian Retailing, and The CCM Update. The first two are primarily for those who own their own Christian bookstores and cover all aspects of the industry including books, music, gifts, software, and apparel. The CCM update is a trade newsletter for those involved in Christian music.

Fourth, 59 interviews with creators/artists, producers, distributors, and presidents of various trade organizations within the industry have been conducted. The interviews averaged around 1.5 hours and were unstructured. The interviews will show how respondents perceive the industry, what types of tensions are most prevalent in their stage, and the most prevalent strategies for dealing with these tensions. Many of the respondents were drawn from a snowball sample, but others were identified from The Supplier's Directory, a directory of several hundred Christian companies that produce goods for the industry. This directory is published by CBA.

Fifth, a follow-up survey was either emailed or mailed to interview participants. The purpose of the survey was to ask several demographic questions (e.g. age, gender, race, education and income level, how long one has worked in the industry, etc.) as well as five questions that would help me determine if I would consider the respondent an "evangelical."

Finally, participant observation at trade conferences and evangelical entertainment oriented festivals has been conducted. These observations will be helpful in describing the tensions and the ways in which each stage of the industry attempts to mediate these tensions.

REFERENCES

Ammerman, Nancy Tatom. 1987. Bible Believers: Fundamentalists in the Modern World. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

Balmer, Randall. 1993. Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Journey into the Evangelical Subculture in America. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Brown, Charles M. 1996. "Musical Responses to Oppression and Alienation: Blues, Spirituals, Secular Thrash, and Christian Thrash Metal Music." International Journal of Politics, Culture and Society. 8,3:439-452.

Flake, Carol. 1984. Redemptorama: Culture Politics, and the New Evangelicalism. New York: Penguin Books.

Griffin, William. 1983. Publishers Weekly Yearbook. New York: R.R. Bowker Company.

Howard, Jay R. 1992. "Contemporary Christian Music: Where Rock Meets Religion." Journal of Popular Culture. 26(1): 123-130.

Howard, Jay R. and John M. Streck. 1996. "The Splintered Art World of Contemporary Christian Music." Popular Music. 15(1): 37-53.

Hunter, James Davison. 1983. American Evangelicalism: Conservative Religion and the Quandary of Modernity. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

McDannell, Colleen. 1995. Material Christianity: Religion and Popular Culture in America. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

McGraw, Dan. 1995. "The Christian Capitalists." U.S. News & World Report, March 13.

Miller, Steve. 1993. The Contemporary Christian Music Debate. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

Moore, R. Laurence. 1994. Selling God: American Religion in the Marketplace of Culture. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Reid Jr., John E. 1993. "The Use of Christian Rock Music by Youth Group Members." Popular Music & Society. 17(2):33-45.

Romanowski, William D. 1990. "Contemporary Christian Music: The Business of Music Ministry." Pp. 143-170 in American Evangelicals and the Mass Media, edited by Quentin J. Schultze. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

Romanowski, William D. 1992. "Roll Over Beethoven, Tell Martin Luther the News: American Evangelicals and Rock Music." Journal of American Culture. 15,3:79- 88.

Romanowski, William D. 1993. "Move Over Madonna: The Crossover Career of Gospel Artist Amy Grant." Popular Music & Society. 17(2): 47-68.

Schultze, Quentin J. 1991. Televangelism And American Culture. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.

Wuthnow, Robert. 1994. Producing The Sacred: An Essay on Public Religion. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.