{"product_id":"saving-america-faithbased-services-and-the-future-of-civil-society-9780691126289","title":"Saving America  FaithBased Services and the","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAddresses questions such as: Are congregations effective vehicles for providing broad-based social programs, or are they best at supporting their own members? How many local congregations have formal programs to assist needy families? This book represents an evenhanded benchmark of information for the coming-debate.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Based on original research, field work and major studies of the last 20 years, this book will undoubtedly become required reading in the ongoing debate about public funding of religious charities.\"--Publishers Weekly \"[A] fine book. Wuthnow carefully and clearly analyzes and evaluates the positive roles American religious elites play in maintaining the diversity and cohesiveness of our society and the acceptance of responsibility for helping those in need.\"--Library Journal \"Wuthnow--as readers of his many previous books would expect--enters this debate armed with good empirical data, which he deftly uses to map out the many interrelated dimensions of faith-based service activity... Wuthnow uses these data ... to address several questions about faith-based services in contemporary America. There is much to learn from his extensive, careful, and clearly presented analyses... In Saving America?, Wuthnow provides much needed, thoughtful empirical analysis of the intertwined relations between churches and social service activities, and in doing so paints a powerful picture of the mutual interdependence of church and state in American society.\"--Michele Dillon, Commonweal \"[An] elegantly written and ambitiously comprehensive book... Wuthnow moves beyond congregations to talk about religion's broader effect on volunteering, service recipients and social and human capital... Few academic books provide [this] perspective because few scholars have such wide expertise.\"--E. Arthur Farnsley, II, The Christian Century \"The overarching message of Saving America? is that ... our civil society is bound together by the glue of love and compassion... Wuthnow takes us through the intricacies of the body politic and sketches, as well, the outlines of the human heart. To this reader the latter is the far more interesting portrait offered in these pages. Who among us give of themselves, how much, to what, and to what end?\"--Paul Wilkes, America \"Wuthnow's book looks not only at how much faith communities are doing to serve the poor but also at how well they are doing it. Saving America? makes a great contribution to the field's literature... Though the book provides an enormous volume of information regarding the formal social service programs of congregations and faith-based nonprofits, Wuthnow concludes that the most important work that religious believers can do to serve the poor is to build caring communities that enfold people in lasting, supportive relationships.\"--Amy L. Sherman, First Things \"Saving America? is an important text that places the rhetoric and politics of 'compassionate conservatism' in its broader context.\"--Edward Ashbee, Journal of American Studies \"Robert Wuthnow ... is one of the top sociologists of religion in the world. Saving America is a must read for anyone concerned about religion, politics, and America's future.\"--Jack T. Hanford, Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eList of Tables ix  Preface xiii  1. Why \"Faith-Based\"? Why Now? 1  Bringing Evidence to Bear 5  Beyond the Modernization Story 9  The Faith-Based Services Debate 12  Religion as an Embedded Practice 17  A Civil Society? 22  2. Congregation-Based Social Services 25  Formal Sponsorship of Service Programs 28  Members' Awareness of Service Programs 42  Congregations' Financial Contribution 46  Which Congregations Do More? 52  How Service Programs Are Organized 57  Conclusions and Unanswered Questions 61  3. Congregations as Caring Communities 64  Emphasizing the Value of Caring 66  Congregations as Civic Space 70  Caring in Small Groups 74  Congregations as Sources of Social Capital 79  Gregariousness 84  Congregations as Sources of Influential Friends 89  Overcoming Status Distinctions 92  Summing Up 94  4. Religion and Volunteering 99  What Surveys Show 102  Who Volunteers More? 106  Is Faith-Based Volunteering Different? 115  Volunteering and Connectedness 119  Motivations for Volunteering 121  Barriers to Volunteering 132  Some Unresolved Questions 135  5. Faith-Based Service Organizations 138  How Many Faith-Based Organizations Are There? 140  How is Faith Involved? 142  How Faith-Based Organizations Function 150  Arguments about Effectiveness 158  The Role of Faith in Nonsectarian Organizations 161  Challenges and Strategies 165  Conclusions 171  6. The Recipients of Social Services 176  Census Bureau Information 177  Evidence from Other Sources 181  Religious Characteristics of the Lower-Income Population 185  Needs and Services in a Small City 191  Conclusions 213  7. Promoting Social Trust 217  Trust among Lower-Income People 219  Desirable Traits of Caregivers 222  Tr ustworthiness of Service Providers 228  A Closer Look at Trust 232  Trust within Families and among Friends 240  Trust in Congregations 243  Trust in Service Agencies 247  When Trust Is Broken 250  The Social Contribution of Trust 254  8. Experiencing Unlimited Love? 256  How Caregivers Talk about Love 261  Do Recipients Experience Love? 269  The Role of Faith 275  Consequences of Receiving Care 279  Limited Love and the Realities of Social Life 284  9. Public Policy and Civil Society 286  Support for Government-Religion Partnerships 288  The Christian Conservative Movement 297  Is Civil Society One-Dimensional? 305  Methodological Note 311  Notes 315  Select Bibliography 333  Index 349","brand":"Princeton University Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":49403742421335,"sku":"9780691126289","price":29.75,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/saving-america-faithbased-services-and-the-future-of-civil-society-9780691126289","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}