Civic Gifts

Voluntarism and the Making of the American Nation-State

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Civic Gifts

Written by: Elisabeth S. Clemens

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

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This title uses virtual voice narration

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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.©2020 The University of Chicago Press (P)2026 The University of Chicago Press

Elisabeth S. ClemensThe University of Chicago Press

Americas

Philanthropy & Charity

Self-Help

Social Sciences

Sociology

Success

United States

Americas Philanthropy & Charity Self-Help Social Sciences Sociology Success United States

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