Collective action is a process by which individuals linked by a common goal engage in cooperative activities in order to affect socio-political change. Collective action takes a variety of forms including protests, sit-ins, and marches, and can address a wide swath of social justice issues. However, research on the mechanisms by which collective action takes place is still developing. Utilizing a national sample of urban neighborhood residents within seven cities, this dissertation is comprised of two related studies investigating the role that civic engagement, bonding social capital, and neighborhood homogeneity play in influencing collective action. Using path analysis, Study 1 investigates the mediating role of bonding social capital in the relationship between civic engagement and collective action. Study 2 utilized multilevel modeling (MLM) and includes a neighborhood level indicator - neighborhood racial homogeneity - to understand the relationship between individual level bonding social capital and collective action. Overall, the results reveal a complex relationship between civic engagement, bonding social capital, and neighborhood homogeneity on the outcome variable of collective action. Study 1 found that collective action was directly related to both bonding social capital and civic engagement, but that bonding social capital partially mediated the relationship between civic engagement and collective action. Specifically, residents who reported greater levels of civic engagement also perceived higher levels of bonding social capital and collective action among their neighbors. In addition, residents who reported stronger levels of bonding social capital also reported higher levels of collective action. Study 2 was consistent with Study 1 and found a positive relationship between bonding social capital and collective action (at Level-1). However, this relationship was moderated by neighborhood racial homogeneity (at Level-2) wherein more homogeneous neighborhoods enhanced the relationship between bonding social capital and collective action. Interestingly, this study also demonstrated a non-hypothesized direct relationship between neighborhood homogeneity and collective action. Particularly, neighborhood homogeneity directly influenced reports of collective action wherein residents in more heterogeneous neighborhoods perceived greater levels of collective action among their neighbors.In conjunction, these results indicate that civic engagement provides residents with the opportunities to build relationships of trust, or bonding social capital, and allows the potential formation of collective action. Also, they reveal that bonding social capital may enhance collective action, but more so within racially homogeneous neighborhoods. The promotion of collective action within racially heterogeneous neighborhoods may vary from that of racially homogeneous neighborhoods. As such, this research calls for community organizers and builders to adopt varying strategies when engaging communities that differ with regard to racial heterogeneity. Within racially homogeneous neighborhoods, for example, the enhancement of relationships of trust (i.e. bonding social capital) among residents may be more effective in building collective action compared to residents within heterogeneous neighborhoods. Understanding these mechanisms may enhance community builders' ability to work with their communities to promote community change.
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