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Tracing The American Concept Of Stewardship To English Antecedents, Francine J. Lipman, James E. Williamson

Francine J. Lipman

The contemporary American concept of stewardship has been criticized for failing to meet the needs of modern society. Critics say that the concept of stewardship is missing or dead in America. This paper proposes that before we speculate on the demise of stewardship in the not too distant future we consider its historical evolution. This paper uses a cross-national approach to trace the concept of stewardship within its socihistorical context from 13th century England to the modern American corporation. By identifying how stewardship has evolved differently in America than it did in England, the authors conclude that stewardship is alive …