Bowling alone : the collapse and revival of American community

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Title:

Bowling alone : the collapse and revival of American community

Author:

Putnam, Robert D.

ISBN:

9780684832838

9780743203043

Publication Information:

Publisher:

Simon & Schuster,

Format:

Regular print

Physical Description:

541 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

Contents:

Thinking about social change in America -- Political participation -- Civic participation -- Religious participation -- Connections in the workplace -- Informal social connections -- Altruism, volunteering, and philanthropy -- Reciprocity, honesty, and trust -- Against the tide? : small groups, social movements, and the Net -- Pressures of time and money -- Mobility and sprawl -- Technology and mass media -- From generation to generation -- What killed civic engagement? : summing up -- Education and children's welfare -- Safe and productive neighborhoods -- Economic prosperity -- Health and happiness -- Democracy -- The dark side of social capital -- Lessons of history : the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era -- Toward an agenda for social capitalists.

Abstract:

"Putnam's work shows how social bonds are the most powerful predictor of life satisfaction. For example, he reports that getting married is the equivalent of quadrupling your income and attending a club meeting regularly is the equivalent of doubling your income. The loss of social capital is felt in critical ways: Communities with less social capital have lower educational performance and more teen pregnancy, child suicide, low birth weight, and prenatal mortality. Social capital is also a strong predictor of crime rates and other measures of neighborhood quality of life, as it is of our health: In quantitative terms, if you both smoke and belong to no groups, it's a close call as to which is the riskier behavior."--Jacket.

Subject Term:

Social change -- United States -- History -- 20th century.

Geographic Term:

United States -- Social conditions -- 1945-

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Summary

Timeframe:

20th-21st century

Topic:

American culture

Community relationships

Community life

Sociology

Social change

Social classes

Social integration

Social history

American history

Genre:

NonFiction

Sociology

Syndetics ICE Summary:

Once 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. (Ingram Syndetics 2020-10-06)

Reviews (3)

Syndetics ICE Choice Review:

According to Putnam, people participated to a considerable degree in various public and private groups well into the 1960s, but since then such participation, referred to as "social capital" because of its potential benefits, has declined. The author devotes eight of the book's 24 chapters to an attempt to provide evidence for reduced participation in political organizations, churches, and various social clubs and interest groups. Among the alleged causes for this putative decrease: the demands of work leaving less time for other activities; the frequent movement of many people from one community to another working against the formation of close ties; more time spent watching TV and "surfing the Web," leaving less time for interacting with others. Putman argues that this erosion is worrisome because social capital serves important needs such as resolving conflicts in the community and increasing the physical and mental health of individuals. In the final chapter, Putnam urges the reader to work at reversing the trend he has seen, but his exhortations contain few specific proposals. The book concludes with three appendixes and about 50 pages of notes. The Web site for the book appears on the dust jacket. General readers and above. D. Harper; University of Rochester (Choice 2008-04-24, Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.)

Syndetics ICE LJ Review:

Harvard professor Putnam draws on a remarkable half a million interviews conducted over 25 years to show that Americans just aren't that connected anymore, joining fewer organizations, signing fewer petitions, and visiting less with neighbors. He also recommends how we can rebuild our ties. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. (Library Journal 2010-10-13, (c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.)

Putnam (Stanfield Professor of International Peace, Harvard) probes American history to identify, interpret, and weigh the forces influencing the major drop in civic involvement that characterized American society in the last third of the 20th century. Buttressing his arguments with a wide range of resources, references, and statistics from government, academic, and commercial sources, he explores the roles of generational, social, and technological factors as they relate to the dwindling of our nation's social capital. Putnam argues that "[the level of] social connectedness matters to our lives in the most profound way." How to respond to its current nadir? Putnam finds striking parallels between the situation today and the declining levels of social interaction in the late 1800s. He cites the rejuventating waves of change and reform generated during the Progressive Era, which stemmed that earlier decline, and suggests that a comparable burst of social inventiveness and political reform could activate the much-needed rebuilding of civic involvement and social connection in our time. This substantive and stimulating work is highly recommended for academics and a thoughtful general public audience. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 2/15/00.]--Suzanne W. Wood, SUNY Coll. of Technology at Alfred (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. (Library Journal 2010-10-12, (c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.)

Syndetics ICE PW Review:

"If you don't go to somebody's funeral, they won't come to yours," Yogi Berra once said, neatly articulating the value of social networks. In this alarming and important study, Putnam, a professor of sociology at Harvard, charts the grievous deterioration over the past two generations of the organized ways in which people relate to one another and partake in civil life in the U.S. For example, in 1960, 62.8% of Americans of voting age participated in the presidential election, whereas by 1996, the percentage had slipped to 48.9%. While most Americans still claim a serious "religious commitment," church attendance is down roughly 25%-50% from the 1950s, and the number of Americans who attended public meetings of any kind dropped 40% between 1973 and 1994. Even the once stable norm of community life has shifted: one in five Americans moves once a year, while two in five expect to move in five years. Putnam claims that this has created a U.S. population that is increasingly isolated and less empathetic toward its fellow citizens, that is often angrier and less willing to unite in communities or as a nation. Marshaling a plentiful array of facts, figures, charts and survey results, Putnam delivers his message with verve and clarity. He concludes his analysis with a concise set of potential solutions, such as educational programs, work-based initiatives and funded community-service programs, offering a ray of hope in what he perceives to be a dire situation. Agent, Rafe Sagalyn. 3-city tour; 20-city radio satellite tour. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved (Publishers Weekly 2010-11-09, (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved)