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 71
... church attendance in the first several decades after World War II , followed by a decline in church attendance of roughly one - third between the late 1950s and the late 1990s , with more than half of the total decline occurring in the ...
... church attendance in the first several decades after World War II , followed by a decline in church attendance of roughly one - third between the late 1950s and the late 1990s , with more than half of the total decline occurring in the ...
Page 76
... Church is once again playing an important role in connecting immigrants to the broader American society , and in that sense continuing to contribute to social capital formation , but this new influx only partially conceals the degree to ...
... Church is once again playing an important role in connecting immigrants to the broader American society , and in that sense continuing to contribute to social capital formation , but this new influx only partially conceals the degree to ...
Page 454
... church - related group " gradually declined from 43 percent in 1974 to 34 percent by the 1990s . The 1987 GSS discovered that roughly half of these reported member- ships are simply church membership . Since church membership itself was ...
... church - related group " gradually declined from 43 percent in 1974 to 34 percent by the 1990s . The 1987 GSS discovered that roughly half of these reported member- ships are simply church membership . Since church membership itself was ...
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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