My Tax Dollars (Paperback)

Ruth Braunstein

ISBN 10: 0691254990 / ISBN 13: 9780691254999

Editore: Princeton University Press, New Jersey, 2025

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Paperback. When the mundane reality of paying taxes takes on moral significanceIn My Tax Dollars, Ruth Braunstein maps the contested moral landscape in which Americans experience and make sense of the tax system. Braunstein tells the stories of Americans who view taxpaying as more than a mundane chore: antigovernment tax defiers who challenge the legitimacy of the tax system, antiwar activists who resist the use of their taxes to fund war, antiabortion activists against "taxpayer funded abortions," and a diverse group of people who promote taxpaying as a moral good.Though taxpaying is often portrayed as dull and technical, exposure to collective rituals, civic education, propaganda, and protest transforms the practice for many Americans into either a sacred rite of citizenship or a profane threat to what they hold dear. These sacred and profane meanings can apply to the act of taxpaying itself or to the specific uses of tax dollars. Despite intense disagreement about these meanings, politically diverse Americans engaged in both taxpaying and tax resistance valorize the individual taxpayer and "my tax dollars."Braunstein explores the profound implications of this meaning making for tax consent, the legitimacy of the tax system, and citizens' broader understandings of their political relationships. Going beyond the usual focus on tax policy, Braunstein's innovative view of taxation through the lens of cultural sociology shows how citizens in value-diverse societies coalesce around shared visions of the sacred and fears of the profane. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Codice articolo 9780691254999

Dati bibliografici

• Titolo: My Tax Dollars (Paperback)
• Editore: Princeton University Press, New Jersey
• Data di pubblicazione: 2025
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 0691254990
• ISBN 13: 9780691254999
• Rilegatura: Paperback
• Condizione: new

Descrizione articolo

Riassunto

When the mundane reality of paying taxes takes on moral significance

In My Tax Dollars, Ruth Braunstein maps the contested moral landscape in which Americans experience and make sense of the tax system. Braunstein tells the stories of Americans who view taxpaying as more than a mundane chore: antigovernment tax defiers who challenge the legitimacy of the tax system, antiwar activists who resist the use of their taxes to fund war, antiabortion activists against “taxpayer funded abortions,” and a diverse group of people who promote taxpaying as a moral good.

Though taxpaying is often portrayed as dull and technical, exposure to collective rituals, civic education, propaganda, and protest transforms the practice for many Americans into either a sacred rite of citizenship or a profane threat to what they hold dear. These sacred and profane meanings can apply to the act of taxpaying itself or to the specific uses of tax dollars. Despite intense disagreement about these meanings, politically diverse Americans engaged in both taxpaying and tax resistance valorize the individual taxpayer and “my tax dollars.”

Braunstein explores the profound implications of this meaning making for tax consent, the legitimacy of the tax system, and citizens’ broader understandings of their political relationships. Going beyond the usual focus on tax policy, Braunstein’s innovative view of taxation through the lens of cultural sociology shows how citizens in value-diverse societies coalesce around shared visions of the sacred and fears of the profane.

Informazioni sull?autore

Ruth Braunstein is associate professor of sociology at the University of Connecticut and the author of Prophets and Patriots: Faith in Democracy Across the Political Divide.