Civic Gifts: Voluntarism and the Making of the American Nation-State - Couverture souple

Clemens, Elisabeth S.

 
9780226670836: Civic Gifts: Voluntarism and the Making of the American Nation-State
Couverture souple
ISBN 10 : 022667083X ISBN 13 : 9780226670836
Editeur : University of Chicago Press, 2020

Synopsis

In Civic Gifts, Elisabeth S. Clemens takes a singular approach to probing the puzzle that is the United States. How, she asks, did a powerful state develop within an anti-statist political culture? How did a sense of shared nationhood develop despite the linguistic, religious, and ethnic differences among settlers and, eventually, citizens? Clemens reveals that an important piece of the answer to these questions can be found in the unexpected political uses of benevolence and philanthropy, practices of gift-giving and reciprocity that coexisted uneasily with the self-sufficient independence expected of liberal citizens Civic Gifts focuses on the power of gifts not only to mobilize communities throughout US history, but also to create new forms of solidarity among strangers. Clemens makes clear how, from the early Republic through the Second World War, reciprocity was an important tool for eliciting both the commitments and the capacities needed to face natural disasters, economic crises, and unprecedented national challenges. Encompassing a range of endeavors from the mobilized voluntarism of the Civil War, through Community Chests and the Red Cross to the FDR-driven rise of the March of Dimes, Clemens shows how voluntary efforts were repeatedly articulated with government projects. The legacy of these efforts is a state co-constituted with, as much as constrained by, civil society.

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À propos de l?auteur

Elisabeth S. Clemens is professor of sociology and Master of the Social Sciences Collegiate Division at the University of Chicago.

Les informations fournies dans la section « A propos du livre » peuvent faire référence à une autre édition de ce titre.

Éditeur
University of Chicago Press
Date d'édition
2020
Langue
anglais
ISBN 10 
022667083X
ISBN 13 
9780226670836
Reliure
Broché
Nombre de pages
436
Coordonnées du fabricant
non disponible
Personne responsable
non disponible

Autres éditions populaires du même titre

9780226559360: Civic Gifts: Voluntarism and the Making of the American Nation-State

Edition présentée

ISBN 10 :  022655936X ISBN 13 :  9780226559360
Editeur : University of Chicago Press, 2020
Couverture rigide