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The Upswing

How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again

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The Upswing

By: Robert D. Putnam
Narrated by: Arthur Morey
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An eminent political scientist's brilliant analysis of economic, social, and political trends over the past century demonstrating 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--from the author of Bowling Alone and Our Kids.
Deep and accelerating inequality; unprecedented political polarization; vitriolic public discourse; a fraying social fabric; public and private narcissism--Americans today seem to agree on only one thing: This is the worst of times.

But we've 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 twentieth century opened, America became--slowly, unevenly, but steadily--more 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 today's disarray.

In a sweeping overview of more than a century of history, 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 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. Engaging, revelatory, and timely, this is Putnam's most ambitious work yet, a fitting capstone to a brilliant career. Americas Economic History Economics Political Science Politics & Government United States Capitalism Socialism Gilded Age Liberalism Discrimination Equality Social Movement Economic disparity Taxation Social justice Economic Inequality Human Rights Franklin D Roosevelt
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Putnam reframed many of the great steps of social progress in the US, & recent lethargy, in a new light. Instead of them being the result of individual great men & women & key acts it’s instead the result of decades long movements involving vast swathes of American society.
There is a blind spot in the role of the American cult of the car & (sub)urban planning as well as an underemphasise on practices such as redlining in breaking communities & pulling up the ladder on progress particularly in terms of housing access. However the book provides fantastic insights on the trends that drove a more inclusive egalitarian America & those which broke it. The author finishes on a hopeful note that the gains of the progressive & communitarian movements can be realised once more in the coming decades, following the templates laid out by americas past. A timely message in an age of individualism & atomisation.

A grand history of individualism to collectivism & back again

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