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. |
From inside the book
Results 1-3 of 87
Page 61
... club meet- ings on average each year - essentially once a month . " By 1999 that figure had shrunk by fully 58 percent to five meetings per year . In 1975-76 , 64 percent of all Americans still attended at least one club meeting in the ...
... club meet- ings on average each year - essentially once a month . " By 1999 that figure had shrunk by fully 58 percent to five meetings per year . In 1975-76 , 64 percent of all Americans still attended at least one club meeting in the ...
Page 199
... club meetings than other women . Figure 49 illustrates in more detail how clubgoing varies with both the nature of a woman's employment and her motivations . For each category , the height of the column represents those women's relative ...
... club meetings than other women . Figure 49 illustrates in more detail how clubgoing varies with both the nature of a woman's employment and her motivations . For each category , the height of the column represents those women's relative ...
Page 383
... club or a women's club . College fraternities and sororities expanded rapidly in the 1880s and 1890s . In the last decades of the nineteenth century Americans created and joined an unprecedented number of voluntary associations ...
... club or a women's club . College fraternities and sororities expanded rapidly in the 1880s and 1890s . In the last decades of the nineteenth century Americans created and joined an unprecedented number of voluntary associations ...
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
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