Cultural Sociology

Drawing on an ethnographic study of the Chicago Dyke March, this article focuses on an instance in which a movement’s ideology and identity contradict in order to advance, the theoretical question of how culture ‘works’. In forming as a reaction to perceived exclusions by the national and annual Gay Pride parades, Dyke March organizers developed an ideological commitment to inclusion. This ideology affected the March in three key areas: constructing an organizing structure, establishing recruitment and outreach procedures, and engaging in framing processes. However, the Dyke March’s broad ideological commitment to inclusion conflicted with orga-nizers ’ narrower collective identity, which formed around and celebrated a specific type of movement participant, and thus undermined their mobilization efforts. This study suggests that organizational dilemmas can arise for movements when their cul-ture has internally contradictory elements. It introduces new theoretical perspectives about the conditions under which cultural elements work more or less effectively