Bowling AloneOnce 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, Bowling Alone, which The Economist hailed as "a prodigious achievement." 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. |
From inside the book
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—James Davison Hunter, The Weekly Standard “A powerful sociological portrait
of a democracy in imminent decline—a portrait as perspicacious, deeply felt, and
firmly rooted in data as the classic American portraits rendered in... The Lonely ...
—James Davison Hunter, The Weekly Standard “A powerful sociological portrait
of a democracy in imminent decline—a portrait as perspicacious, deeply felt, and
firmly rooted in data as the classic American portraits rendered in... The Lonely ...
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Based upon previous work I had done in Italy—which argued that healthy
democracies depend upon social connectedness—I began to wonder if some of
the challenges America was facing as we approached the end of the twentieth
century ...
Based upon previous work I had done in Italy—which argued that healthy
democracies depend upon social connectedness—I began to wonder if some of
the challenges America was facing as we approached the end of the twentieth
century ...
Page
I've never hidden the fact that my own views are progressive and democratic, nor
my collaboration with President Obama; but many leading conservatives have
praised my work. Jeb Bush has attributed his political and ideological
resurrection ...
I've never hidden the fact that my own views are progressive and democratic, nor
my collaboration with President Obama; but many leading conservatives have
praised my work. Jeb Bush has attributed his political and ideological
resurrection ...
Page
The tremendous response to this book has always felt like a testament to
America's embattled but never vanquished community spirit, and the inextricable
place of social capital in the success or failure of our democratic experiment. It is
my ...
The tremendous response to this book has always felt like a testament to
America's embattled but never vanquished community spirit, and the inextricable
place of social capital in the success or failure of our democratic experiment. It is
my ...
Page
And in the meantime, the bull session buzz about “participatory democracy” and “
all power to the people” seemed to augur ever more widespread engagement in
community affairs. One of America's most acute social observers prophesied in ...
And in the meantime, the bull session buzz about “participatory democracy” and “
all power to the people” seemed to augur ever more widespread engagement in
community affairs. One of America's most acute social observers prophesied in ...
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - jonerthon - LibraryThingProbably the last of the older titles that has been on my reading list too long. Though it is dated in some ways, I was glad to finally get through this one and understand why so many planners have ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - ddonahue - LibraryThingThe present withdrawal of the individual from social organizations now resembles the situation after WW I as depicted in Chapter IX of Eckstein's Rites of Spring, in which he describes veteran's eschewal of social commitments. Read full review
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activities adults American analysis archive associations attendance average become behavior Bowling century chapter church cities citizens civic engagement club compared connections correlated DDB Needham decades decline Democracy economic effects equality especially evidence example fact factors figure forms four fraction friends giving groups growth half important income increase individual institutions interest Internet involvement John Journal least less levels lives measures meetings membership movement nearly Needham Life Style neighborhood networks organizations parents participation percent period political population question recent religious reported Research response Review rise Robert Roper roughly share shows single Social and Political social capital society Statistics suggests surveys television Trends trust turn twentieth century United University Press Urban viewing virtually volunteering watching women World York
Bibliographic information
| Title | Bowling Alone |
| Author | Robert D. Putnam |
| Publisher | Simon and Schuster, 2001 |
| ISBN | 0743219031, 9780743219037 |
| Length | 544 pages |
| Subjects | › › History / Social History History / United States / 20th Century Political Science / Public Policy / General |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |