Season's Savings | ₹5/mo for 3 months

₹199/month after first 3 months. Renews automatically. Terms apply.
Civic Gifts cover art

Civic Gifts

Voluntarism and the Making of the American Nation-State

 Virtual Voice Sample
Get this deal Free with 30-day trial
Offer ends on 28 December, 2026.
Prime logo
Only ₹5/month for first 3 months.
Get 1 credit per month to use on any title of your choice.
Listen to anything from the Plus Catalogue—thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and Audible Originals.
₹199/month after first 3 months. Cancel anytime. Renews automatically. Offer ends 28 December, 2026.
1 credit a month to use on any title to download and keep
Listen to anything from the Plus Catalogue—thousands of Audible Originals, podcasts and audiobooks
Download titles to your library and listen offline
₹199.00 per month after 30-day trial. Cancel anytime.

Civic Gifts

Written by: Elisabeth S. Clemens
Narrated by: Virtual Voice
Free with 30-day trial Free with 30-day trial

₹199.00 per month after 30-day trial. Cancel anytime.

₹199.00 per month after 30-day trial. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for ₹670.93

Buy Now for ₹670.93

Background images

This title uses virtual voice narration

Virtual voice is computer-generated narration for audiobooks.
About this listen
 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 Americas Philanthropy & Charity Self-Help Social Sciences Sociology Success United States
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
No reviews yet