Citizen: Jane Addams and the Struggle for Democracy

Citizen: Jane Addams and the Struggle for Democracy
by Louise W. Knight

Citizen: Jane Addams and the Struggle for Democracy
List Price: $22.50
Our Price: $14.47
You Save: $8.03 (36%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $13.52 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: Louise W. Knight
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2006-10-15
ISBN: 0226447006
Number of pages: 598
Publisher: University of Chicago Press

Book Reviews of Citizen: Jane Addams and the Struggle for Democracy

Book Review: An American Hero
Summary: 5 Stars

This is a book about a woman who made a difference. It is also the story of a woman's triumph over Victorian ideas about a woman's place and over personal uncrtainties. Jane Addams became a leading humanitarian and spokesperson for women but she also led struggles which enhanced the notion of democracy in this country and the world. Ms. Addams did not see democracy as neoconservatives see it today. She was not a fighter for capitalism or Republican values but rather for participation and inclusion. She was also a crusader for world peace.

Jane Addams and her colleagues were not like 21st century Americans. She was practically humorless and was moved by moral imperatives almost unknown to us. However, she, aside from being the "real thing", was famous for her kindness to immigrants and children.

This book deals with her early life and her humanitarian efforts in the United States. It discusses the founding of Hull House, one of the first settlement houses in this country, and relates the operation of Hull House to the awakening of Addams' interest in many important causes.

The book is a good read for those who are interested in women's history or in the history of reform and, indeed, radicalism in this country (for she was a radical). It is well researched and written and does not try to turn Addams into a midwestern Mother Teresa.

Summary of Citizen: Jane Addams and the Struggle for Democracy

Jane Addams was the first American woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Now Citizen, Louise W. Knight's masterful biography, reveals Addams's early development as a political activist and social philosopher.  In this book we observe a powerful mind grappling with the radical ideas of her age, most notably the ever-changing meanings of democracy. 

Citizen covers the first half of Addams's life, from 1860 to 1899. Knight recounts how Addams, a child of a wealthy family in rural northern Illinois, longed for a life of larger purpose. She broadened her horizons through education, reading, and travel, and, after receiving an inheritance upon her father's death, moved to Chicago in 1889 to co-found Hull House, the city's first settlement house. Citizen shows vividly what the settlement house actually was?a neighborhood center for education and social gatherings?and describes how Addams learned of the abject working conditions in American factories, the unchecked power wielded by employers, the impact of corrupt local politics on city services, and the intolerable limits placed on women by their lack of voting rights. These experiences, Knight makes clear, transformed Addams. Always a believer in democracy as an abstraction, Addams came to understand that this national ideal was also a life philosophy and a mandate for civic activism by all. 

As her story unfolds, Knight astutely captures the enigmatic Addams's compassionate personality as well as her flawed human side. Written in a strong narrative voice, Citizen is an insightful portrait of the formative years of a great American leader.
?Knight?s decision to focus on Addams?s early years is a stroke of genius. We know a great deal about Jane Addams the public figure. We know relatively little about how she made the transition from the 19th century to the 20th. In Knight?s book, Jane Addams comes to life. . . . Citizen is written neither to make money nor to gain academic tenure; it is a gift, meant to enlighten and improve. Jane Addams would have understood.??Alan Wolfe, New York Times Book Review 

?My only complaint about the book is that there wasn?t more of it. . . .  Knight honors Addams as an American original.??Kathleen Dalton, Chicago Tribune 

General Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Americans Who Tell the Truth
Howard Zinn - You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train ImageHoward Zinn - You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train
Release date: 2005-05-24; DVD
Best price: $14.71
Price in other shops: $24.95
The Open Space of Democracy (New Patriotism) ImageThe Open Space of Democracy (New Patriotism)
by Terry Tempest Williams
The Orion Society; Published: 2004-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $16.61
White Dog Cafe Cookbook: Multicultural Recipes and Tales of Adventure from Philadelphia's Revolutionary Restaurant ImageWhite Dog Cafe Cookbook: Multicultural Recipes and Tales of Adventure from Philadelphia's Revolutionary Restaurant
by Judy Wicks, Kevin Von Klause, Elizabeth Fitzgerald, Mardee Haidin Regan
Running Press; Running Press; Published: 1998-03-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.97
Price in other shops: $22.95
"They Say": Ida B. Wells and the Reconstruction of Race (New Narratives in American History) Image"They Say": Ida B. Wells and the Reconstruction of Race (New Narratives in American History)
by James West Davidson
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2007-10-09; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.29
Price in other shops: $21.95
Henry Thoreau: A Life of the Mind ImageHenry Thoreau: A Life of the Mind
by Robert D. Richardson Jr.
University of California Press; Published: 1988-01-21; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.76
Price in other shops: $22.95
The Woman's Bible: A Classic Feminist Perspective ImageThe Woman's Bible: A Classic Feminist Perspective
by Elizabeth Cady Stanton
Dover Publications; Published: 2003-01-23; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.08
Price in other shops: $9.95
No Place for a Woman: A Life of Senator Margaret Chase Smith ImageNo Place for a Woman: A Life of Senator Margaret Chase Smith
by Janann Sherman
Rutgers University Press; Published: 2001-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $20.46
Price in other shops: $21.95
A World Made New: Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights ImageA World Made New: Eleanor Roosevelt and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
by Mary Ann Glendon
Random House Trade Paperbacks; Published: 2002-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.50
Price in other shops: $15.95
Here I Stand ImageHere I Stand
by Paul Robeson
Beacon Press; Published: 1998-01-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.78
Price in other shops: $16.00
Quiet Strength ImageQuiet Strength
by Rosa Parks
Zondervan; Published: 2000-02-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.29
Price in other shops: $9.99
Similar Books and other products
American Heroine: The Life and Legend of Jane Addams ImageAmerican Heroine: The Life and Legend of Jane Addams
by Allen F. Davis
Ivan R. Dee, Publisher; Published: 2000-02-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.45
Price in other shops: $18.95
American Higher Education, Second Edition: A History ImageAmerican Higher Education, Second Edition: A History
by Christopher J. Lucas
Palgrave Macmillan; Published: 2006-04-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $22.45
Price in other shops: $26.95
Jane Addams and the Dream of American Democracy: A Life ImageJane Addams and the Dream of American Democracy: A Life
by Jean Bethke Elshtain
Basic Books; Published: 2002-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.76
Price in other shops: $20.00
The Trouble with Islam Today: A Muslim's Call for Reform in Her Faith ImageThe Trouble with Islam Today: A Muslim's Call for Reform in Her Faith
by Irshad Manji
St. Martin's Griffin; Published: 2005-03-16; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.95
Price in other shops: $13.95
Jane Addams: Champion of Democracy ImageJane Addams: Champion of Democracy
by Dennis Brindell Fradin, Judith Bloom Fradin
Clarion Books; Published: 2006-12-11; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $11.63
Price in other shops: $21.00
Islam: A Short History (Modern Library Chronicles) ImageIslam: A Short History (Modern Library Chronicles)
by Karen Armstrong
Modern Library; Published: 2002-08-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.75
Price in other shops: $14.95
Hull-House (IL) (Images of America) ImageHull-House (IL) (Images of America)
by Peggy Glowacki, Julia Hendry
Arcadia Publishing; Published: 2004-12-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $15.59
Price in other shops: $19.99
Democracy and Social Ethics ImageDemocracy and Social Ethics
by Jane Addams
University of Illinois Press; Published: 2001-11-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $14.50
Price in other shops: $15.00
The Jane Addams Reader ImageThe Jane Addams Reader
Basic Books; Published: 2001-12; Paperback; Book
Best price: $16.57
Price in other shops: $22.00
Twenty Years at Hull-House: by Jane Addams (The Bedford Series in History and Culture) ImageTwenty Years at Hull-House: by Jane Addams (The Bedford Series in History and Culture)
Bedford/St. Martin's; Published: 1999-04-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.49
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories