The art of giving: Founders between commitment in civil society and symbolic recognition

Journal/Book: Berl J Soziol. 2000; 10: Postfach 300 551, D-51334 Leverkusen 3, Germany. Leske Verlag Budrich Gmbh. 333+.

Abstract: The Social Sciences haven't paid much attention to foundations so far, but recently they gained interest in this topic in debates on civil society. The ongoing discussion on a sphere detached from both, market and state provides for the particular basis of claims for strengthening civil society. The article analyzes foundations as a crucial dimension of civil society's institutional infrastructure. Firstly, in a historical and systematic perspective, I outline the process, in which foundations were constituted as autonomous, secularized institutions; secondly, against this background I analyze founders' pratcices being a special form of interaction that allows to describe the social role of the founder as a passenger between altruism and the need for recognition.

Note: Article Sigmund S, Humboldt Univ, Inst Sozialwissensch, D-1086 Berlin, GERMANY

Keyword(s): ORGANIZATIONS

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