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Community and National Service Democracy and Civic Engagement Working Paper

Understanding Service: Words in the Context of History and Culture

By CSD • July 1, 2002September 9, 2021

In this paper, five cultures and their languages are explored — Greek and Latin, Chinese, Japanese, Swahili, and Sanskrit. These represent some of the most influential languages in the ancient and the classical world. They also reflect origins of the major languages spoken today in different regions of the world. To inform this review, interviews were conducted with language scholars. On-line resources such as dictionaries and lexicons supplemented information from interviews. The first section presents the case for examining service through language. The second section explores service in different languages. Given this review, the third section discusses the main findings and the conceptual and empirical implications for understanding service.

Project: Civic Engagement and Service

Citation

Menon, N., Moore, A., & Sherraden, M. (2002). Understanding service: Words in the context of history and culture (CSD Working Paper No. 02-01). St. Louis, MO: Washington University, Center for Social Development.

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2002Amanda Moore McBrideDemocracy and Civic EngagementMichael SherradenNatasha Menon

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