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 83
Page 3
... levels have gone both up and down, though basically down. Overall, campaign participation has not decreased; but political alienation has grown significantly.14 So in some cases the declines in political participation have continued ...
... levels have gone both up and down, though basically down. Overall, campaign participation has not decreased; but political alienation has grown significantly.14 So in some cases the declines in political participation have continued ...
Page 7
... levels of social capital. Participants included places as diverse as Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Duluth, Minnesota; Lewiston, Maine; San Diego, California; Chicago, Illinois; and Yakima, Washington. This effort ultimately produced the ...
... levels of social capital. Participants included places as diverse as Baton Rouge, Louisiana; Duluth, Minnesota; Lewiston, Maine; San Diego, California; Chicago, Illinois; and Yakima, Washington. This effort ultimately produced the ...
Page 34
... level of political interest, baby boomers and their children have been less likely to vote than their parents and grandparents. As boomers and their children became a larger and larger fraction of the national electorate, the average ...
... level of political interest, baby boomers and their children have been less likely to vote than their parents and grandparents. As boomers and their children became a larger and larger fraction of the national electorate, the average ...
Page 36
... level of interest is gradually fading, as an older generation of news and politics junkies passes slowly from the scene. The fact that the decline is generation- specific, rather than nationwide, argues against the view that public ...
... level of interest is gradually fading, as an older generation of news and politics junkies passes slowly from the scene. The fact that the decline is generation- specific, rather than nationwide, argues against the view that public ...
Page 37
... levels. Over the last thirty to forty years these organizations have become bigger, richer, and more professional. During presidential campaigns from the late 1950s to the late 1970s, more and more voters reported being contacted by one ...
... levels. Over the last thirty to forty years these organizations have become bigger, richer, and more professional. During presidential campaigns from the late 1950s to the late 1970s, more and more voters reported being contacted by one ...
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 |
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activities adults American analysis archive associations attendance average become Bowling century chapter church civic engagement club compared connections correlated DDB Needham decades decline Democracy economic effects equality evidence example face fact factors figure five 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 relative religious reported Research Review rise Robert Roper roughly share shows single Social and Political social capital society Statistics suggests surveys television third tion Trends trust turn twentieth century twenty United University Press Urban virtually volunteering watching women World York