The American Dream is in serious danger, according to Robert Wuthnow--not because of economic conditions, but because its moral underpinnings have been forgotten. In the past this vision was not simply a formula for success, but a moral perspective that framed our thinking about work and money in terms of broader commitments to family, community, and humanitarian values. Nowadays, we are working harder than ever, and yet many of us feel that we are not realizing our higher aspirations as individuals or as a people. Here Wuthnow examines the struggles in which American families are now...
The American Dream is in serious danger, according to Robert Wuthnow--not because of economic conditions, but because its moral underpinnings have ...
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 ...
More than one million American children are schooled by their parents. As their ranks grow, home schoolers are making headlines by winning national spelling bees and excelling at elite universities. The few studies conducted suggest that homeschooled children are academically successful and remarkably well socialized. Yet we still know little about this alternative to one of society's most fundamental institutions. Beyond a vague notion of children reading around the kitchen table, we don't know what home schooling looks like from the inside.
Sociologist Mitchell Stevens goes...
More than one million American children are schooled by their parents. As their ranks grow, home schoolers are making headlines by winning national...
On January 29, 2001, President George W. Bush signed an executive order creating the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. This action marked a key step toward institutionalizing an idea that emerged in the mid-1990s under the Clinton administration--the transfer of some social programs from government control to religious organizations. However, despite an increasingly vocal, ideologically charged national debate--a debate centered on such questions as: What are these organizations doing? How well are they doing it? Should they be supported with tax dollars?--solid...
On January 29, 2001, President George W. Bush signed an executive order creating the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. T...
Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and adherents of other non-Western religions have become a significant presence in the United States in recent years. Yet many Americans continue to regard the United States as a Christian society. How are we adapting to the new diversity? Do we casually announce that we "respect" the faiths of non-Christians without understanding much about those faiths? Are we willing to do the hard work required to achieve genuine religious pluralism?
Award-winning author Robert Wuthnow tackles these and other difficult questions surrounding religious diversity and...
Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and adherents of other non-Western religions have become a significant presence in the United States in recent years. Y...
Discusses the schism between the religious right and mainstream Protestantism, the separation of church and state, and the relationship between science and religion.
Discusses the schism between the religious right and mainstream Protestantism, the separation of church and state, and the relationship between scienc...
Claiming that the realm of the sacred in modern societies is characterized more by rediscovery than by revival, Wuthnow examines the main theoretical approaches toward religion that have emerged of late in the social sciences and shows how these approaches can help explain the shifting location of the sacred.
Claiming that the realm of the sacred in modern societies is characterized more by rediscovery than by revival, Wuthnow examines the main theoretical ...
These portraits are powerful and highly personal because they tell the stories. both collective and personal, of each group, revealing agreement and dissension, closeness and alienation, growth and stagnation. The result is an intimate inside look at the dynamics of small groups.
These portraits are powerful and highly personal because they tell the stories. both collective and personal, of each group, revealing agreement and d...
This collection of essays by ten of the nation's prominent social scientists and theologians offers serious commentary on our culture's obsession with material goods and examines the uneasy relation of materialism to religion. The contributors assess the ways in which materialism has been understood in recent analyses of American character, how the economy shapes our understandings of ourselves, the ways in which religious thought is being reshaped by economic circumstances, and the nature of consumerism. The complement to Wuthnow's God and Mammon in America, this volume challenges us all to...
This collection of essays by ten of the nation's prominent social scientists and theologians offers serious commentary on our culture's obsession with...
Questions about civil society have been reopened in recent years with increasing urgency. How can we preserve and protect democracy? Is it possible to bring a moral dimension back into public life? How strong or weak do we want government to be? What can motivate us to be better, more responsibly engaged citizens?
In this book, well-known author Robert Wuthnow presents an engaging and provocative exploration of the role of Christianity in civil society which, he says, -applies to other U.S. religions as will.-
Professor Wuthnow considers three aspects of the relationship...
Questions about civil society have been reopened in recent years with increasing urgency. How can we preserve and protect democracy? Is it possible to...
