This book challenges the myth that individualism necessarily weakens commitments to the common good. It examines environmental and other activist groups in which individualism sometimes enhances political commitment. Rather than criticize individualism and favor a return to "traditional" values, Paul Lichterman examines the untraditional, personalized politics of many recent social movements and invites us to rethink common understandings of commitment, community, and individualism in a post-traditional world.
This book challenges the myth that individualism necessarily weakens commitments to the common good. It examines environmental and other activist grou...
Many scholars and citizens alike have counted on civic groups to create broad ties that bind society. Some hope that faith-based civic groups will spread their reach as government retreats. Yet few studies ask how, if at all, civic groups reach out to their wider community. Can religious groups--long central in civic America--create broad, empowering social ties in an unequal, diverse society?
Over three years, Paul Lichterman studied nine liberal and conservative Protestant-based volunteering and advocacy projects in a mid-sized American city. He listened as these groups tried...
Many scholars and citizens alike have counted on civic groups to create broad ties that bind society. Some hope that faith-based civic groups will ...
Religious groups constitute a large part of America's voluntary sector, yet relatively few works have investigated them broadly. This collection of essays investigates the public roles of religious congregations and associations. With contributions by premier social scientists, the work gets to the bottom of how effective--or ineffective--religious groups are in offering social services, fostering community life, and creating discussion of social issues such as homosexuality and welfare reform. Arguing that religious groups experience many of the same constraints and opportunities as...
Religious groups constitute a large part of America's voluntary sector, yet relatively few works have investigated them broadly. This collection of es...
Religious groups constitute a large part of America's voluntary sector, yet relatively few works have investigated them broadly. This collection of essays investigates the public roles of religious congregations and associations. With contributions by premier social scientists, the work gets to the bottom of how effective--or ineffective--religious groups are in offering social services, fostering community life, and creating discussion of social issues such as homosexuality and welfare reform. Arguing that religious groups experience many of the same constraints and opportunities as...
Religious groups constitute a large part of America's voluntary sector, yet relatively few works have investigated them broadly. This collection of es...
