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 384
... period of institutional ferment ended in the early twentieth century , but then ( as we have seen earlier in this book ) a long period of in- filling followed , as the organizations founded in the Gilded Age and Progres- sive Era added ...
... period of institutional ferment ended in the early twentieth century , but then ( as we have seen earlier in this book ) a long period of in- filling followed , as the organizations founded in the Gilded Age and Progres- sive Era added ...
Page 391
... period quite apart from the devotional activities of local parishes and congregations . The Salvation Army , an evangelical Protestant movement min- istering to the unchurched urban poor with missionary zeal and unorthodox mass ...
... period quite apart from the devotional activities of local parishes and congregations . The Salvation Army , an evangelical Protestant movement min- istering to the unchurched urban poor with missionary zeal and unorthodox mass ...
Page 409
... period of civic revival in American history . So I challenge America's clergy , lay leaders , theologians , and ordinary worshipers : Let us spur a new , pluralistic , socially responsible " great awakening , " so that by 2010 Americans ...
... period of civic revival in American history . So I challenge America's clergy , lay leaders , theologians , and ordinary worshipers : Let us spur a new , pluralistic , socially responsible " great awakening , " so that by 2010 Americans ...
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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