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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—John Atlas, Newark Star-Ledger “Its four hundred pages are crammed with
statistics and analyses that seek to document civic decline in the United States....
Bowling Alone is to be commended for stimulating awareness of civic
engagement ...
—John Atlas, Newark Star-Ledger “Its four hundred pages are crammed with
statistics and analyses that seek to document civic decline in the United States....
Bowling Alone is to be commended for stimulating awareness of civic
engagement ...
Page
His argument— buttressed by impressive scholarly research—that the United
States has lost much of the social glue that once allowed our society to cohere,
that we are in danger of becoming a nation of strangers to one another without ...
His argument— buttressed by impressive scholarly research—that the United
States has lost much of the social glue that once allowed our society to cohere,
that we are in danger of becoming a nation of strangers to one another without ...
Page
Meanwhile, measures of charitable donations that looked at giving by the
average American (to churches, local fundraising drives, and organizations such
as the United Way) continued to fall, just as Bowling Alone had anticipated.9
According ...
Meanwhile, measures of charitable donations that looked at giving by the
average American (to churches, local fundraising drives, and organizations such
as the United Way) continued to fall, just as Bowling Alone had anticipated.9
According ...
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26 Numerous law review articles reflected on the implications of Bowling Alone
for jurisprudence, both in the United States and abroad.27 And in 2004 the
Whitney Museum of American Art curated Social Capital: Forms of Interaction, ...
26 Numerous law review articles reflected on the implications of Bowling Alone
for jurisprudence, both in the United States and abroad.27 And in 2004 the
Whitney Museum of American Art curated Social Capital: Forms of Interaction, ...
Page
Wandering through the World Almanac list of 2,380 groups with some national
visibility from the Aaron Burr Society to the Zionist Organization of America, one
discovers such intriguing bodies as the Grand United Order of Antelopes, the
Elvis ...
Wandering through the World Almanac list of 2,380 groups with some national
visibility from the Aaron Burr Society to the Zionist Organization of America, one
discovers such intriguing bodies as the Grand United Order of Antelopes, the
Elvis ...
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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 |