Putnam draws on evidence including nearly 500,000 interviews over the last quarter century to show that we sign fewer petitions, belong to fewer organizations that meet, know our neighbors less, meet with friends less frequently, and even socialize with our families less often. We’re even bowling alone. More Americans are bowling than ever before, but they are not bowling in leagues. Putnam shows how changes in work, family structure, age, suburban life, television, computers, women’s roles and other factors have contributed to this decline.
Dry, well researched, and brilliant. It's a slog but by the end, you understand how important the American Community is and how its slow decline came about.
Dry, well researched, and brilliant. It's a slog but by the end, you understand how important the American Community is and how its slow decline came about.
The book follows the different theories about the decline of social relations and activities in the U.S. with rigorous and vast amount of survey data to verify its hypothesis. Ever wondered why older generations seem to particularly despise the current state of social life in the U.S. and, by extention, the entire world? This book gives you an organized look into the reasons why, and actually refutes some popular ones, by a very scientific and data-driven approach.
The data Putnam collected and analyzed represents a major achievement. Yet, after doing all that hard work he failed to go very far down some paths his data showed him. For example, more Americans are part of the work force than in previous decades, when many two-adult families had only one adult in the work force, leaving the other free to participate in community and neighborhood activities. The phenomena of overwork and overspending, explored brilliantly by Juliet Schor, is tied to the decline in social capital, but in this book is not given its due.
