The Upswing
by Robert D. Putnam with Shaylyn Romney Garrett
Putnam's data on America's 'I-we-I' curve: a century of rising community, equality and cooperation from the 1890s to the 1960s, then decline. Hopeful in showing that a turn toward 'we' happened once and could again.
Read it if…
you want the long-run data on social cohesion and a reason for hope.
See the book →
Skip it if…
you want personal advice; this is social history.
Try instead: Coming Apart →
Three things you will actually use
- Trends reverse; they have before.
- Economics, politics, society and culture move together.
- Local action started the last upswing.
Do this first
Read the chapter on the Progressive Era and ask what a modern version would require.
Our verdict
Data and hope.
See the book →
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