Reimagining Nonprofits
Reimagining Nonprofits
What is the nonprofit sector and why does it exist? Collecting the writing of some of the most creative minds in the field of nonprofit studies, this book challenges our traditional understanding of the role and purpose of the nonprofit sector. It reflects on the ways in which new cultural and economic shifts bring existing assumptions into question and offers new conceptualizations of the nonprofit sector that will inform, provoke, and inspire. Nonprofit organization and activity is an enormously important part of social, cultural, and economic life around the world, but our conceptualization of their place in modern society is far from complete. Reimagining Nonprofits provides fresh insights that are necessary for understanding nonprofit organizations and sectors in the 21st century.
- Focuses exclusively on sector theory, reviewing, critiquing, and pushing theory forward
- Features a diverse range of over 30 authors from across the world, writing from a variety of different contexts and perspectives
- Chapters are concise and presented with parallel structures and examples, making the theory and ideas lucid and accessible
Reviews & endorsements
‘A welcome addition to the nonprofit field. Reimagining Nonprofits takes its departure from ten ‘seminal' theoretical perspectives on the ‘what' and ‘why' of the nonprofit sector and then examines the current relevance of these perspectives. The volume pays particular attention to the ‘why' – the sector's promises and potentials as well as its shortcomings and dark sides – and to alternative perspectives that become particularly important when examined in international contexts.' Kirsten A. Grønbjerg, Director, Indiana Nonprofits Project, and Distinguished Professor, O'Neill School of Public & Environmental Affairs, Indiana University, Bloomington
‘A collection of fresh, innovative, and important perspectives on key problems in the nonprofit sector by a diverse group of thinkers in the field. Reimagining Nonprofits will help set the agenda for nonprofit research for many years to come.' Mark Sidel, Doyle-Bascom Professor of Law and Public Affairs, University of Wisconsin, Madison
‘This is a refreshing look at what is distinct about the nonprofit sector. A new generation of scholars engages the question of the sector's very existence from their own perspectives. Bravo! The authors claim that the volume will ‘rekindle a curiosity about the nonprofit sector and its many roles in society.' I agree. It was exciting to revisit our old theories and explore some new ones. A ton to think about.' Joseph Galaskiewicz, Professor of Sociology, University of Arizona
Product details
May 2025Paperback
9781009262101
459 pages
229 × 152 × 24 mm
0.66kg
Available
Table of Contents
- 1. An invitation to rethink the nonprofit sector Curtis Child and Eva Witesman
- 2. An overview of nonprofit sector theories Curtis Child
- 3. The prevalence of traditional nonprofit sector theories in research Megan LePere-Schloop and Rebecca Nesbit
- 4. What makes good nonprofit sector theory? Eva Witesman
- 5. Sector theorists should consider how social values determine unmet needs Ruth K. Hansen and Gregory R. Witkowski
- 6. Sector theorists should embrace a social economy perspective Laurie Mook and John R. Whitman
- 7. Sector theorists should expand three-failures theory to include the family sector and varied forms of government Richard Steinberg, Eleanor Brown and Liza L. Taylor
- 8. Sector theorists should beware the nonprofit industrial complex Ana Clarissa Rojas Durazo
- 9. Sector theorists should be inclusive of muslim and non-western perspectives Shariq Siddiqui
- 10. Sector theorists should revisit the role of information George E. Mitchell and Jason Coupet
- 11. Sector theorists should borrow epistemologies Elizabeth A. Castillo
- 12. Nonprofits as organizational actors Patricia Bromley and Heitor Santos
- 13. Nonprofits as enablers of multilayered representation Catherine E. Wilson
- 14. Nonprofits as facilitators of national self-development Ada Ordor
- 15. Nonprofits as part of an engineered social economy Meeyoung Lamothe, Jiwon Suh, Misun Lee, Hee Soun Jang, Bok Gyo Jeong and Seongho An
- 16. Nonprofits as shaped by the ruling party Ming Hu and Yung-Pin Lu
- 17. Nonprofits as sources of regime stability Yulia Skokova and Irina Krasnopolskaya
- 18. Nonprofits as creators of transformative symbolic reality Robert W. Ressler
- 19. Nonprofits as distributors of toll goods Eva Witesman
- 20. Nonprofits as agents of moral authority Robbie Waters Robichau and Kandyce Fernandez
- 21. Conclusions Eva Witesman and Curtis Child.
