Bowling Alone: 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, 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. |
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Page 33
... first two - thirds of the twentieth century among Americans who were free to vote . * With the civil rights movement of the 1960s and the 1965 Voting Rights Act , millions of newly enfranchised men and women in the South were able for ...
... first two - thirds of the twentieth century among Americans who were free to vote . * With the civil rights movement of the 1960s and the 1965 Voting Rights Act , millions of newly enfranchised men and women in the South were able for ...
Page 398
... first consumer protection legisla- tion in American history ( the Food and Drug Administration and federal meat inspection in 1906 , the Federal Trade Commission in 1914 ) ; the first environ- mental legislation ( the national forest ...
... first consumer protection legisla- tion in American history ( the Food and Drug Administration and federal meat inspection in 1906 , the Federal Trade Commission in 1914 ) ; the first environ- mental legislation ( the national forest ...
Page 404
... first , to make Americans more aware of the collective significance of the myriad minute decisions that we make daily to invest - or disinvest - in social capital and , second , to spark the civic imaginations of our fellow citizens to ...
... first , to make Americans more aware of the collective significance of the myriad minute decisions that we make daily to invest - or disinvest - in social capital and , second , to spark the civic imaginations of our fellow citizens to ...
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activities adults African Americans American analysis of DDB Author's analysis average Barry Wellman behavior boomers bowling chapter Chicago church attendance cities citizens civic disengagement civic engagement club meetings cohort community projects compared computer-mediated communication correlated DDB Needham decades decline Democracy demographic economic effects entertainment environmental evidence fewer figure forms fraction friends Gilded Age groups growth half important income individual Internet Journal less levels membership ment mobility National National Election Study nearly Needham Life Style neighborhood neighbors organizational organizations parents participation percent Political Trends surveys poll population predictor Progressive Era religion religious reported Research Robert Roper Social roughly Social and Political social capital social connectedness social networks Social Survey social trust society Statistics Style survey archive television Theda Skocpol tion turnout twentieth century University Press Urban virtually voluntary associations volunteering voting watching women workplace York