Acting civically : from urban neighborhoods to higher education / Susan A. Ostrander and Kent E. Portney, editors.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Ostrander, Susan A.

Portney, Kent E.

Series:

Civil society

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Civil society--United States.

Civil society.

United States.

Political participation--United States.

Political participation.

Physical Description:

xii, 208 pages ; 23 cm.

Place of Publication:

Medford, Mass. : Tufts University Press ; Hanover : University Press of New England, [2007]

Summary:

Civic engagement, defined as individual and collective action to identify public issues and participate in public life, has been a hotly contested subject in recent years. Beginning with a chapter by the editors that maps current key issues and main research questions, contributors to this volume counter claims of civic decline to show how, when, where, and why people act civically in multiple ways in various settings and contexts. From the local level of urban neighborhoods to the large-scale institutions of health and higher education, this book documents how Americans actively shape public concerns. Attentive to matters of race and class, this book will be of interest to anyone who wants to gain a deeper understanding of civic engagement in relation to civil society and politics and to its theory and practice. The book will be useful in a wide range of courses including those in Political Science, Sociology, Urban and Community Studies, Education, American Studies, Race and Ethnic Studies, and Nonprofit Studies.

Contents:

1 / Susan A. Ostrander, Kent E. Portney Introduction: Key Issues in Civic Engagement Research Today 1

Part 1 Civic Engagement in Local Contexts and in Political versus Nonpolitical Voluntary Associations

2 / Kent E. Portney, Jeffrey M. Berry Neighborhoods, Neighborhood Associations, and Social Capital 21

3 / Lydia Lowe, Doug Brugge Grassroots Organizing in Boston Chinatown: A Comparison with CDC-style Organizing 44

4 / Julian Agyeman, Heather Ross Building Power in Minority Neighborhoods: Boston University Medical Center's Bio-safety Level Four Laboratory 72

5 / Sarah Sobieraj, Deborah White Could Civic Engagement Reproduce Political Inequality? 92

Part 2 Civic Engagement in Societal Institutions: Health Care and Education

6 / Charlene A. Galarneau Consumer-Sponsored Health Care Plans: Early Twentieth-Century Public Participation in U.S. Health Care 113

7 / Linda V. Beardsley Teacher Education as Civic Engagement: Building Bridges and Community through Professional Development Schools 130

8 / Jean Y. Wu Race Matters in Civic Engagement Work 158

9 / Susan A. Ostrander Three Major Foundations and the Decline in Funding for Higher Education Civic Engagement, 1995 to 2003 183.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781584656609

1584656603

9781584656616

1584656611

OCLC:

145732869