Date of Award
1-1-2024
Document Type
Dissertation
Degree Name
Ph.D. in History
First Advisor
Rebecca Marchiel
Second Advisor
Darren Grem
Third Advisor
Jarod Roll
School
University of Mississippi
Relational Format
dissertation/thesis
Abstract
This dissertation analyzes the origins and development of the faith-based housing non-profit Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI). A small cadre of evangelical activists established the organization on a commune in Americus, Georgia in 1976, and it grew dramatically during the late 20th century to become a well-known, corporate non-profit with affiliates across the United States and the world. Under its original Partnership Housing model, local chapters of volunteers and donors built houses to sell to low-income buyers who purchased them at cost with no interest, and these homeowners were required to contribute sweat equity to their houses by physically working to help during construction. This work places Habitat’s story and its housing model in the context of the greater political transformations in recent American history. From the 1970s onward, politicians and middle-class voters increasingly embraced the virtues of self-help by supporting a shift of responsibility for public services from the government to non-profit organizations. I argue Habitat’s homeownership ministry embodied this “politics of self-help” and actively promoted it among the general public as it recruited volunteers, solicited donations from corporations, and lobbied to influence federal policy.1
The first two chapters explore Habitat’s ideological roots and grassroots organizing efforts. They examine the conventional economic logic and the radical teachings of Clarence Jordan that influenced founding member Millard Fuller and his work with grassroots activists to build the organization during the 1970s–a decade of widespread neighborhood and evangelical activism. The latter chapters of this work examine how the organization became a mainstream force in American culture and politics. I examine how Habitat’s leaders harnessed the public notoriety of former President Jimmy Carter to promote itself through headline-grabbing events and build a recognizable philanthropic brand in an age of celebrity fundraising events (like Hands Across America). This dissertation then assesses Habitat’s impact on housing policy by detailing its successful lobbying efforts to create the Self-Help Housing Opportunity Program (SHOP), a federal program that offers Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grants to Habitat and similar self-help housing organizations to purchase land and build infrastructure for housing developments.
Recommended Citation
Babbitt, Colton, ""Partnership Housing:" Habitat for Humanity, Jimmy Carter, and the Politics of Self-Help" (2024). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2916.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/2916