"Contesting Communities is a valuable and original contribution to community studies, to organizational analysis, and to the literature of the nonprofit sector. Although theoretically sophisticated, it is written with a clarity that will make it useful to readers across the social disciplines and in the world of practice."
Peter Dobkin Hall
American Journal of Sociology
"Barman provides ... Read morenovel commentary on the changing nature and meaning of philanthropy and community, as well as the impact of corporate gatekeepers thereon. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in voluntarism, philanthropy, social capital, and organizational behavior."
Jason Kaufman "Given the broad contemporary interest in philanthropy and voluntarism, Emily Barman's book on the United Way and the emergence of alternative fundraising organizations as competitors to the United Way is especially timely. Barman's incisive investigation of the increasingly competitive environment of workplace charity is a major contribution to our understanding of the social, political, and economic changes underway in local communities throughout the United States."
Steven Rathgeb Smith "In Contesting Communities: The Transformation of Workplace Charity, Emily Barman adds to the debate on defining 'community' by investigating how conceptions of community manifest themselves in an arena little researched by social scientists, namely: charitable donation campaigns in the workplace The book makes a valuable contribution to the understanding of both the evolving meaning of community and the field of workplace charity in the United States."
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