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Robert Putnam
The Upswing
How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again
Simon & Schuster, 2020
What's inside?
A timely reminder: America works best when it balances rugged individualism with opportunity for all.
Recommendation
With exhaustive data, illustrative charts and fascinating insight into America’s shifting popular attitudes, Robert Putnam – a sociologist and the author of the seminal social analysis, Bowling Alone – shows that US society, culture, politics and economics followed a remarkably similar arc over the past 125 years or so. From the extreme inequalities and divisiveness of the Gilded Age to the equalizing reforms of the Progressive Era and back again, Putnam – writing with social entrepreneur Shaylyn Romney Garrett – reminds Americans of the times when their country works best. It happens when society lifts all boats and balances between its core ideals of rugged individualism and opportunity for all.
Summary
About the Author
Political scientist Robert D. Putnam, a professor at Harvard University, earned the National Humanities Medal in 2012. He is the author of the seminal social study, Bowling Alone, and was one of the influential modern philosophers featured in BBC radio’s series, Morality in the 21st Century, moderated by the late Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks.
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