Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community

Front Cover
Simon and Schuster, 2000 - History - 541 pages
Once we bowled in leagues, usually after work; but no longer. This seemingly small phenomenon symbolizes a significant social change. Drawing on surveys on Americans' changing behavior over the past twenty-five years, Putnam shows how we have become increasingly disconnected from family, friends, neighbors, and social structures, whether the PTA, church, recreation clubs, political parties, or bowling leagues. Our shrinking access to the "social capital" that is the reward of communal activity and community sharing is a serious threat to our civic and personal health. 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, other measures of neighborhood quality of life, and health. America has faced this crisis before. At the turn of the last century, social capital was at low ebb, reduced by urbanization, industrialization, and vast immigration that uprooted Americans from their friends, social institutions, and families. Faced with this challenge, the country righted itself. Within a few decades, a range of organizations was created, from the Red Cross, Boy Scouts, and YWCA to Hadassah and the Knights of Columbus and the Urban League and social capital was rebuilt. Putnam calls on Americans to start the process again.
 

Contents

Trends in Civic Engagement and Social Capital
29
Civic Participation
48
Religious Participation
65
Connections in the Workplace
80
Informal Social Connections
93
Altruism Volunteering and Philanthropy
116
Reciprocity Honesty and Trust
134
Against the Tide? Small Groups Social Movements and the Net
148
Safe and Productive Neighborhoods
307
Economic Prosperity
319
Health and Happiness
326
Democracy
336
The Dark Side of Social Capital
350
WHAT IS TO BE DONE?
365
the Progressive
402
Measuring Social Change
415

Introduction
183
Mobility and Sprawl
204
CONTENTS
247
What Killed Civic Engagement? Summing Up
277
SO WHAT? with the assistance of Kristin A Goss
285
Education and Childrens Welfare
296
Sources for Figures and Tables
425
The Rise and Fall of Civic and
437
NOTES
445
THE STORY BEHIND THIS BOOK
505
INDEX
515
Copyright

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About the author (2000)

Robert D. Putnam is the Malkin Research Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University and a former Dean of the John F. Kennedy School of Government. Nationally honored as a leading humanist and a renowned scientist, he has written fourteen books, including the bestselling Our Kids and Bowling Alone, and has consulted for the last four US Presidents. In 2012, President Obama awarded him the National Humanities Medal, the nation’s highest honor for contributions to the humanities. His research program, the Saguaro Seminar, is dedicated to fostering civic engagement in America. Visit RobertDPutnam.com.

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