Bowling Alone: Revised and Updated: The Collapse and Revival of American CommunityOnce 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
Results 1-5 of 50
Page 35
... Roper pollsters asked Americans, “Have you recently been taking a good deal of interest in current events and what's happening in the world today, some interest, 4P_Putnam_BowlingAlone_35915.indd 35 8/3/20 12:40 PM political ...
... Roper pollsters asked Americans, “Have you recently been taking a good deal of interest in current events and what's happening in the world today, some interest, 4P_Putnam_BowlingAlone_35915.indd 35 8/3/20 12:40 PM political ...
Page 40
... Roper survey organization presented thousands of Americans with a simple checklist of a dozen different civic activities—from signing a petition or attending a public meeting to working for a political party or running for office.25 ...
... Roper survey organization presented thousands of Americans with a simple checklist of a dozen different civic activities—from signing a petition or attending a public meeting to working for a political party or running for office.25 ...
Page 41
... Roper polls declined significantly, from the most common—petition signing—to the least common—running for office. Americans are playing virtually every aspect of the civic game less frequently today than we did two decades ago. Consider ...
... Roper polls declined significantly, from the most common—petition signing—to the least common—running for office. Americans are playing virtually every aspect of the civic game less frequently today than we did two decades ago. Consider ...
Page 42
... Roper archive to discover that even this intense form of participation has faded. Over the last two decades the number of office seekers in any year at all levels in the American body politic—from school board to town council—shrank by ...
... Roper archive to discover that even this intense form of participation has faded. Over the last two decades the number of office seekers in any year at all levels in the American body politic—from school board to town council—shrank by ...
Page 43
... Roper surveys also shed light on trends in various forms of public expression—signing petitions, writing Congress, writing an article or a letter to the editor, and making a speech. Once again, each of these types of activity has become ...
... Roper surveys also shed light on trends in various forms of public expression—signing petitions, writing Congress, writing an article or a letter to the editor, and making a speech. Once again, each of these types of activity has become ...
Contents
1 | |
15 | |
29 | |
48 | |
65 | |
Connections in the Workplace | 80 |
Informal Social Connections | 93 |
Altruism Volunteering and Philanthropy | 116 |
Education and Childrens Welfare | 296 |
Safe and Productive Neighborhoods | 307 |
Economic Prosperity | 319 |
Health and Happiness | 326 |
Democracy | 336 |
The Dark Side of Social Capital | 350 |
What Is to Be Done? | 365 |
Toward an Agenda for Social Capitalists | 402 |
Reciprocity Honesty and Trust | 134 |
Against the Tide? Small Groups Social Movements and the Net | 148 |
Why? | 183 |
Mobility and Sprawl | 204 |
Technology and Mass Media | 216 |
From Generation to Generation | 247 |
What Killed Civic Engagement? Summing Up | 277 |
So What? with the assistance of Kristin A Goss | 285 |
Has the Internet Reversed the Decline | 415 |
Measuring Social Change | 447 |
Sources for Figures and Tables | 457 |
The Rise and Fall of Civic and | 469 |
notes | 477 |
the story behind this book | 545 |
index | 555 |
Common terms and phrases
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