Bowling Alone

Author: Robert Putnam

Stock information

General Fields

  • : $35.00 AUD
  • : 9780743203043
  • : Simon & Schuster
  • : Simon & Schuster Ltd
  • :
  • : 0.5
  • : July 2001
  • : 236mm X 156mm X 34mm
  • : United Kingdom
  • : 24.99
  • :
  • : February 2022
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  • : books

Special Fields

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  • :
  • : Robert Putnam
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  • : Paperback
  • : New edition
  • :
  • : English
  • : 307.0973
  • :
  • :
  • : 541
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  • : illustrations
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Barcode 9780743203043
9780743203043

Description

In a groundbreaking book based on vast new data, Robert Putnam shows how we have become increasingly disconnected from family, friends, neighbours and our democratic structures- and how we may reconnect. BOWLING ALONE warns Americans that their stock of "social capital", the very fabric of their connections with each other, has been accelerating down. Putnam describes the resulting impoverishment of their lives and communities. Drawing on evidence that includes nearly half a million interviews conducted over a quarter of a century in America, Putnam shows how changes in work, family structure, age, suburban life, television, computers, women's roles and other factors are isolating Americans from each other in a trend whose reflection can clearly be seen in British society. We sign 30 percent fewer petitions than we did ten years ago. Membership in organisations- from the Boy Scouts to political parties and the Church is falling. Ties with friends and relatives are fraying: we're 35 percent less likely to visit our neighbours or have dinner with our families than we were thirty years ago. We watch sport alone instead of with our friends. A century ago, American citizens' means of connecting were at a low point after decades of urbanisation, industrialisation and immigration uprooted them from families and friends. That generation demonstrated a capacity for renewal by creating the organisations that pulled Americans together. Putnam shows how we can learn from them and reinvent common enterprises that will make us secure, productive, happy and hopeful.

Author description

Robert D. Putnam is the Professor of International Peace at Harvard University. He is the authour of six previous books, and his articles have appeared in THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE WASHINGTON POST, THE AMERICAN PROSPECT as well as many other publications.