49915X1 First Edition. Tufts University Press: 2007. 232 pages. Hardcover, no dustjacket. Brand new book. New multidisciplinary scholarship on civic engagement in America. 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. The Table of Contents is as follows: Contents ¥ Preface and Acknowledgments ¥ Contributors ¥ Introduction: Key Issues in Civic Engagement Research Today -Susan A. Ostrander and Kent E. Portney, Civic Engagement in Local Contexts and in Political versus Nonpolitical Voluntary Associations, Neighborhoods, Neighborhood Associations, and Social Capital - Kent E. Portney and Jeffrey M. Berry ¥ Grassroots Organizing in Boston Chinatown: A Comparison with CDC-style Organizing - Lydia Lowe and Doug Brugge ¥ Building Power in Minority Neighborhoods: Boston University Medical Center's Bio-safety Level Four Laboratory - Julian Agyeman and Heather Ross ¥ Could Civic Engagement Reproduce Political Inequality? - Sarah Sobieraj and Deborah White, Civic Engagement in Societal Institutions: Health Care and Education, Consumer-Sponsored Health Care Plans: Early Twentieth-Century Public Participation in U.S. Health Care - Charlene A. Galarneau ¥ Teacher Education as Civic Engagement: Building Bridges and Community through Professional Development Schools - Linda V. Beardsley ¥ Race Matters in Civic Engagement Work - Jean Y. Wu ¥ Three Major Foundations and the Decline in Funding for Higher Education Civic Engagement, 1995 to 2005 - Susan A. Ostrander, Index "Acting Civically takes the debate on civic engagement in the United States to a new level by probing the question of the kinds of engagement that can enrich democratic practice in many different kinds of settings. This collection of essays is theoretically grounded and empirically fresh, and will be of interest not only to scholars and students, but also to practitioners and activists who seek to develop robust partnerships between universities and communities. The Tufts University Civic Engagement Research Group and Tisch College of Citizenship and Public Service are models of what it means to produce knowledge for democracy." ÑCarmen Sirianni, Professor of Sociology and Public Policy, Brandeis University and author of Civic Innovation in America ISBN: 1584656603 $65.00USD
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