November 9, 2006 | Read Time: 1 minute
NEW BOOKS
The Nonprofit Sector: A Research Handbook, Second Edition
edited by Walter W. Powell and Richard Steinberg
Twenty-seven chapters, edited by Walter W. Powell, a professor of education at Stanford University, and Richard Steinberg, a professor of economics, philanthropic studies, and public affairs at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, provide an extensive overview of issues, trends, and theories in the nonprofit world.
The book is divided into six sections that cover the history of the nonprofit sector, its relationship to the marketplace and the state, what nonprofit groups are doing, and how charities work, both internally and in the community.
Mr. Powell and Debra C. Minkoff, a sociology professor at Barnard College, contribute “Nonprofit Mission: Constancy, Responsiveness, or Deflection?” The chapter looks at nonprofit groups’ missions, how they are developed, how they may change or firm up under certain circumstances, and what makes different kinds of groups vulnerable to outside influences on their mission. The authors review relevant literature and pull examples from interviews with executive directors of San Francisco Bay Area charities.
A total of 46 authors — including sociologists, economists, mathematicians, and policy experts — contribute chapters on topics covering the relationship between charities and religion, political advocacy, taxation and law, and employment in the nonprofit world.
Publisher: Yale University Press, P.O. Box 209040, New Haven, Conn. 06520; http://www.yale.edu/yup; 672 pages; $65; ISBN 0-300-10903-2.
