Robert D. Putnam

Este libro, una de las investigaciones más destacadas de Robert Putnam, es el resultado de una amplia y meticulosa investigación que se inicia en los años setenta. La transferencia de competencias en Italia, desde la administracion nacional a los gobiernos regionales, proporcionaba el escenario ideal para estudiar la evolucion de nuevas instituciones. Robert Putnam aprovecha esta oportunidad historica para llevar a cabo un estudio cuyos hallazgos han tenido una repercusion que ha trascendido el caso italiano y cuyas contribuciones a la teoria y la practica de la democracia contemporanea han tenido un impacto indiscutible.Mediante esta investigacion comparada Putnam estudia los distintos factores que, a partir del cambio institucional, influyen en el desigual funcionamiento de los gobiernos regionales italianos. Asi, mediante la articulacion metodologica de distintas perspectivas teoricas y tecnicas de investigacion, Putnam indaga en las relaciones existentes entre el desempeño institucional, los factores socioeconomicos y los aspectos socioculturales. Tras realizar un profundo analisis longitudinal y transversal del desarrollo y funcionamiento de los nuevos gobiernos regionales, el autor revela la importancia que la vida civica y las distintas tradiciones politicas tienen a la hora de explicar el exito de las instituciones democraticas. Mientras que la tradicion de republicas comunales existente en el norte y centro de Italia propicio el desarrollo de solidas normas y redes de compromiso civico, la tradicion monarquica del sur condujo al establecimiento de relaciones politicas verticales, lo que se traduce en una vida civica mas debil y fragmentada. En definitiva, Putnam nos demuestra como la democracia y sus principales instituciones funcionan mejor en las sociedades dotadas de un mayor capital social, es decir, en aquellas que estan basadas en relaciones de confianza, normas de reciprocidad y redes de compromiso civico.Joan Subirats, catedratico de Ciencia Politica de la Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona, autor de la presentacion de este nuevo titulo de la coleccion Clasicos Contemporaneos del CIS, recorre tanto los aspectos teoricos y metodologicos fundamentales de la obra, como los debates mas importantes que esta ha suscitado desde su publicacion.

Libro incluido en Biblioteca Selecta Forum de Barcelona 2004A raíz del impacto que generó la aparición del libro de Robert Putnam, Solo en la Bolera (2000), en que exponía las causas y efectos de la perdida de vinculos sociales entre los norteamericanos, la Fundacion Bertelsman invito al propio Putnam a coordinar un trabajo que analizase el estado de los vinculos sociales en diversas democracias avanzadas, en concreto, Alemania, Australia, España, Estados Unidos, Francia, Gran Bretaña, Japon y Suecia. Putnam conto para ello con la colaboracion de investigadores tan prestigiosos como Claus Offe y Sussanne Fuchs para el caso aleman, Jean-Pierre Worms para Francia, Meter A. Hall para Gran Bretaña o Victor Perez-Diaz en relacion a España. Se trataba de responder a la pregunta: ¿Que cambios ha experimentado el caracter de la sociedad civil durante los ultimos años y cual ha sido su causa?, centrandose en el factor del capital social, esto es, de las redes sociales y las normas de reciprocidad asociadas a ellas, y analizar como habia evolucionado en ese tiempo. Algunos estudiosos aprovecharon el encargo para, junto con el diagnostico de su pais, incorporar sus propias reflexiones teoricas sobre el concepto que servia de punto de partida: en ese sentido resultan esclarecedoras las paginas de Claus Offe o el texto de Theda Skocpol (America civica, pasado y presente).

Robert D. Putnam obtuvo reconocimiento internacional con este libro, un riguroso estudio sobre los cambios experimentados por la sociedad americana en los últimos veinticinco años. El profesor llamó la atencion al desvelar como los ciudadanos viven cada dia mas alejados de sus familias, amigos, vecinos y de las instituciones sociales, ya sean las iglesias, los clubes, los partidos politicos o las ligas de bolos, que sirven a este prestigioso cientifico como metafora de un fenomeno social preocupante: alguna vez los norteamericanos jugaron a los bolos en compañia: ahora prefieren hacerlo solos. El provocador analisis de Putnam demuestra que la perdida de los vinculos sociales y de las normas de reciprocidad y confianza derivadas de esos vinculos es tambien la perdida del factor mas potente de satisfaccion social y personal.

Once we bowled in leagues, usually after work -- but no longer. This seemingly small phenomenon symbolizes a significant social change that Robert Putnam has identified in this brilliant volume, Bowling Alone, which The Economist hailed as "a prodigious achievement."Drawing on vast new data that reveal Americans changing behavior, Putnam shows how we have become increasingly disconnected from one another and how social structures -- whether they be PTA, church, or political parties -- have disintegrated. Until the publication of this groundbreaking work, no one had so deftly diagnosed the harm that these broken bonds have wreaked on our physical and civic health, nor had anyone exalted their fundamental power in creating a society that is happy, healthy, and safe. Like defining works from the past, such as The Lonely Crowd and The Affluent Society, and like the works of C. Wright Mills and Betty Friedan, Putnams Bowling Alone has identified a central crisis at the heart of our society and suggests what we can do.

The most important book in social science for many years Paul Collier, TLS Books of the YearThe Upswing is Robert D. Putnams brilliant analysis of economic, social, cultural and political trends from the Gilded Age to the present, showing how America went from an individualistic I society to a more communitarian We society and then back again, and how we can all learn from that experience.In the late nineteenth century, America was highly individualistic, starkly unequal, fiercely polarised and deeply fragmented, just as it is today. However, as the twentieth century dawned, America became - slowly, unevenly, but steadily - more egalitarian, more cooperative, more generous; a society on the upswing, more focused on responsibilities to each other and less focused on narrow self-interest. Over the course of the 1960s, however, these trends reversed once again, leading to todays disarray.In a sweeping overview of more than a century of history, Putnam and Romney Garrett draw on inspiring lessons for our time from an earlier era, when a dedicated group of reformers righted the ship, creating once again a society based on community. Engaging, revelatory and timely, this is Putnams most ambitious work yet, with a relevance right across the anglophone world. It is an unmissable contribution to the debate about where we want society to go.

From the acclaimed author of Bowling Alone comes the story of people who are reweaving the social fabric across America by building local communities and revitalizing our civic spirit.In his acclaimed book Bowling Alone, Robert Putnam describes the United States as a nation in which we have become increasingly disconnected from one another, where our social structures have disintegrated. He asks an important question: what can we do to end the atrophy of Americas civic vitality, and what can bring us together again?Now, in Better Together, Putnam and Lewis Feldstein examine how people across the country are inventing new forms of social activism and community renewal. An arts program in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, brings together shipyard workers and their gentrified neighbors; a deteriorating, crime-ridden neighborhood in Boston is transformed by a determined group of civic organizers; an online community in San Francisco allows its members to connect with each other; in Wisconsin schoolchildren learn how to participate in the political process to benefit their town. As our society grows increasingly diverse, its more important than ever to grow social capital, whether by traditional or more innovative means. The people profiled in Better Together are doing just that, and their stories illustrate the extraordinary power of social networks for enabling people to improve their lives and the lives of those around them.

A New York Times bestseller and a passionate, urgent (The New Yorker) examination of the growing inequality gap from the bestselling author of Bowling Alone: why fewer Americans today have the opportunity for upward mobility.Central to the very idea of America is the principle that we are a nation of opportunity. But over the last quarter century we have seen a disturbing opportunity gap emerge. We Americans have always believed that those who have talent and try hard will succeed, but this central tenet of the American Dream seems no longer true or at the least, much less true than it was.In Our Kids, Robert Putnam offers a personal and authoritative look at this new American crisis, beginning with the example of his high school class of 1959 in Port Clinton, Ohio. The vast majority of those students went on to lives better than those of their parents. But their children and grandchildren have faced diminishing prospects. Putnam tells the tale of lessening opportunity through poignant life stories of rich, middle class, and poor kids from cities and suburbs across the country, brilliantly blended with the latest social-science research.A truly masterful volume (Financial Times), Our Kids provides a disturbing account of the American dream that is thoughtful and persuasive (The Economist). Our Kids offers a rare combination of individual testimony and rigorous evidence: No one can finish this book and feel complacent about equal opportunity (The New York Times Book Review).

From the author of Bowling Alone and Our Kids, a sweeping yet remarkably accessible (The Wall Street Journal) analysis of social capital, civic engagement, and American democracy that offers superb, often counterintuitive insights (The New York Times) to demonstrate how we have gone from an individualistic I society to a more communitarian We society and then back again, and how we can learn from that experience to become a stronger more unified nation.Deep and accelerating inequality and the wealth gap; unprecedented political polarization and partisan division; vitriolic public discourse; a fraying social fabric; public and private narcissismAmericans today seem to agree on only one thing: This is the worst of times.But weve been here before. During the Gilded Age of the late 1800s, America was highly individualistic, starkly unequal, fiercely polarized, and deeply fragmented, just as it is today. However, as the 20th century opened, America becameslowly, unevenly, but steadilymore egalitarian, more cooperative, more generous; a society on the upswing, more focused on our responsibilities to one another and less focused on our narrower self-interest. Sometime during the 1960s, however, these trends reversed, leaving us in todays disarray.In a magnificent and visionary book (The New Republic) drawing on his inimitable combination of statistical analysis and storytelling, Robert Putnam analyzes a remarkable confluence of trends that brought us from an I society to a We society and then back again. He draws on inspiring lessons for our time from an earlier era, when a dedicated group of reformers righted the ship, putting us on a path to becoming a society once again based on community and civic renewal. This is Putnams most remarkable (Science) work yet, a fitting capstone to a brilliant career.

American Grace is a major achievement, a groundbreaking examination of religion in America. Unique among nations, America is deeply religious, religiously diverse, and remarkably tolerant. But in recent decades the nations religious landscape has been reshaped. America has experienced three seismic shocks, say Robert Putnam and David Campbell. In the 1960s, religious observance plummeted. Then in the 1970s and 1980s, a conservative reaction produced the rise of evangelicalism and the Religious Right. Since the 1990s, however, young people, turned off by that linkage between faith and conservative politics, have abandoned organized religion. The result has been a growing polarizationthe ranks of religious conservatives and secular liberals have swelled, leaving a dwindling group of religious moderates in between. At the same time, personal interfaith ties are strengthening. Interfaith marriage has increased while religious identities have become more fluid. Putnam and Campbell show how this denser web of personal ties brings surprising interfaith tolerance, notwithstanding the so-called culture wars. American Grace is based on two of the most comprehensive surveys ever conducted on religion and public life in America. It includes a dozen in-depth profiles of diverse congregations across the country, which illuminate how the trends described by Putnam and Campbell affect the lives of real Americans. Nearly every chapter of American Grace contains a surprise about American religious life. Among them: Between one-third and one-half of all American marriages are interfaith; Roughly one-third of Americans have switched religions at some point in their lives; Young people are more opposed to abortion than their parents but more accepting of gay marriage; Even fervently religious Americans believe that people of other faiths can go to heaven; Religious Americans are better neighbors than secular Americans: more generous with their time and treasure even for secular causesbut the explanation has less to do with faith than with their communities of faith; Jews are the most broadly popular religious group in America today. American Grace promises to be the most important book in decades about American religious life and an essential book for understanding our nation today.