benefit other, lessfortunate people, but also to benefit themselves and their families. The personal narratives of elite women as they describe their views on philanthropy, the need for exclusivity in their byinvitationonly volunteer organizations (such as the Junior League and The Links), their childhood experiences and college years in prestigious schools and sororities, and the debutante presentations and other upperclass rituals in which they participate are drawn from Kendall's ethnographic research. Participating in meetings and social functions with elite women in several Texas cities, along with conducting systematic interviews, the author gained unprecedented access to elite women across racial and ethnic categories. The Power of Good Deeds provides new insights and greater depth to our knowledge about the upper classes and how the charitable activities of privileged women contribute to the process of legitimation, maintaining an ideology of classbased and racebased segregation in the United States.

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