Bowling Alone: Revised and Updated: The Collapse and Revival of American Community

English language

Published 2020

ISBN:
978-1-9821-3084-8
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4 stars (1 review)

Twenty years, ago, Robert D. Putnam made a seemingly simple observation: once we bowled in leagues, usually after work; but no longer. This seemingly small phenomenon symbolized a significant social change that became the basis of the acclaimed bestseller, Bowling Alone, which The Washington Post called “a very important book” and Putnam, “the de Tocqueville of our generation.”

Bowling Alone surveyed in detail Americans’ changing behavior over the decades, showing how we had become increasingly disconnected from family, friends, neighbors, and social structures, whether it’s with the PTA, church, clubs, political parties, or bowling leagues. In the revised edition of his classic work, Putnam shows how our shrinking access to the “social capital” that is the reward of communal activity and community sharing still poses a serious threat to our civic and personal health, and how these consequences have a new resonance for our divided country today. He includes critical …

1 edition

Dense and Informative

4 stars

A dense read on the decline of civic life in America. Full of statistics that sometimes made my mind wander, but readable for non math nerds. Incredibly informative, and helped clear up some of the murky ideas I’ve had about what’s going on here…

My only criticism is that I wish it went into deeper analysis as to the causes (even deeper than it does), but I guess that would be another book.