Bowling Alone The Collapse & Revival of American Community

by Robert D Putnam

Comment on this title Synopses & Reviews Read an Excerpt ISBN13: 9780743203043 ISBN10: 0743203046 Condition: Standard All Product Details

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments

Drawing on vast new data that reveal Americans’ changing behavior, Putnam shows how we have become increasingly disconnected from one another and how social structures—whether they be PTA, church, or political parties—have disintegrated. Until the publication of this groundbreaking work, no one had so deftly diagnosed the harm that these broken bonds have wreaked on our physical and civic health, nor had anyone exalted their fundamental power in creating a society that is happy, healthy, and safe.

Like defining works from the past, such as The Lonely Crowd and The Affluent Society, and like the works of C. Wright Mills and Betty Friedan, Putnam’s Bowling Alone has identified a central crisis at the heart of our society and suggests what we can do.

Review

"Bowling Alone provides important new data on the trends in civic engagement and social capital, a revised analysis if the causes of the decline, an expoloration of its consequences, and ideas about what might be done. The book will not settle the debate, but it is a formidable acheivement. It will henceforth be impossible to discuss these issues knowledgeably without reading Putnam's book and thinking about it." Paul Starr, The New Republic

Synopsis

In a groundbreaking bestseller based on vast new data, Putnam shows how we have become increasingly disconnected from family, friends, neighbors, and our democratic structures--and tells how we may reconnect.

Synopsis

Once we bowled in leagues, usually after work—but no longer. This seemingly small phenomenon symbolizes a significant social change that Robert Putnam has identified in this brilliant volume, which The Economist hailed as “a prodigious achievement.”

Description

Includes bibliographical references (p. [445]-504) and index.

About the Author

Robert D. Putnam is the Peter and Isabel Malkin Professor of Public Policy at Harvard. He is currently president of the American Political Science Association, fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the author of nine previous books. He lives in Lexington, Massachusetts. To learn more about Bowling Alone and ways to help rebuild our nation's social capital, visit the author's Web sites at www.bowlingalone.com and www.bettertogether.org

Table of Contents

Contents

SECTION I: INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 1: Thinking about Social Change in America

SECTION II: TRENDS IN CIVIC ENGAGEMENT AND SOCIAL CAPITAL

CHAPTER 2: Political Participation
CHAPTER 3: Civic Participation
CHAPTER 4: Religious Participation
CHAPTER 5: Connections in the Workplace
CHAPTER 6: Informal Social Connections
CHAPTER 7: Altruism, Volunteering, and Philanthropy
CHAPTER 8: Reciprocity, Honesty, and Trust
CHAPTER 9: Against the Tide? Small Groups, Social Movements, and the Net

SECTION III: WHY?

CHAPTER 10: Introduction
CHAPTER 11: Pressures of Time and Money
CHAPTER 12: Mobility and Sprawl
CHAPTER 13: Technology and Mass Media
CHAPTER 14: From Generation to Generation
CHAPTER 15: What Killed Civic Engagement? Summing Up

SECTION IV: SO WHAT? (with the assistance of Kristin A. Goss)

CHAPTER 16: Introduction
CHAPTER 17: Education and Children's Welfare
CHAPTER 18: Safe and Productive Neighborhoods
CHAPTER 19: Economic Prosperity
CHAPTER 20: Health and Happiness
CHAPTER 21: Democracy
CHAPTER 22: The Dark Side of Social Capital

SECTION V: WHAT IS TO BE DONE?

CHAPTER 23: Lessons of History: The Gilded Age and the Progressive Era
CHAPTER 24: Toward an Agenda for Social Capitalists

APPENDIX I: Measuring Social Change
APPENDIX II: Sources for Figures and Tables
APPENDIX III: The Rise and Fall of Civic and Professional Associations

NOTES
THE STORY BEHIND THIS BOOK
INDEX

Exclusive Essay

Read an exclusive essay by Robert D. Putnam

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`	katesisco , November 04, 2007 I was struck by the similarity between this concern and the distention in the ghettos we discussed in sociology oh so many years ago. Remember when we 'discovered' that the tragedy of the commons was no tragedy; that the level of involvement was tribal--each knowing the other for best management of commonly owned lands. It seems to be another attempt to state how disassociated we are from genuine relationships instead of the lip service we see; my recent read by an anthology professor titled My Freshman Year, made me aware of how deeply our society is dysfunctional when the author spoke to her foreign students about their friendships with American students. Almost to a whole, they found the 'friendships' superficial and insufficient, not at all like the ones they had in their home lands. Is our media, i.e. tv to blame, yes, but also our spread of communities, he shares the blame and then suprisingly gives 35% to generational causes. If you have a tribal society, you have trust because each sees/talks with each other daily. If you didn't and had a hermit in your town, this person was suspect. All of us are suspect as we don't know one another. Our governmental processes stand empty, as time after time we have discovered the results to be empty of the promise of fairness. The question is how to restore fairness and trust; again we come back to tribal; small groups agreeing among themselves. What ever happened to the concept of 'new towns', with grocery, drug, medical in the buildings of walkable streets and open porches? That is the closest we will be able to come to 'tribal.'
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Product Details

ISBN:

9780743203043

Binding:

Trade Paperback

Publication date:

08/07/2001

Publisher:

SIMON & SCHUSTER TRADE

Pages:

544

Height:

1.35IN

Width:

5.60IN

Thickness:

1.25

Number of Units:

1

Copyright Year:

2000

Series Volume:

GTR-520

UPC Code:

2800743203045

Author:

Don Cohen

Author:

Robert D. Putnam

Author:

Robert Putnam

Author:

Robert D Putnam

Subject:

anthropology;cultural anthropology

Subject:

bowling alone, robert putnam bowling alone, putnam bowling alone, bowling alone putnam, robert d. putnam

Subject:

History

Subject:

Social change -- United States -- History.

Subject:

Social classes

Subject:

Social change

Subject:

United States Social conditions 1945-

Subject:

United states

 

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