Social Capital: Critical Perspectives on Community and "Bowling Alone"

Marc Notes: Critical essays tackle the theme of isolation & the breakdown of mediating social institutions; Bibl. & index; Cloth avail. @ $55.00. Publisher Marketing:""Social Capital" is an important crtique that should stimulate further analysis and dicussion of what constitutes community." -- "New Political Science" "The reader emerges with a good sense of the gaps in Putnam's work- or more appropriately in the context of this book, the way in which the 'feelgood' factor of Putnam's work deserves critical analysis."--"Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations" This collection tackles the theme of isolation and the breakdown of mediating social institutions. It is, in part, a response to Robert Putnam's "Bowling Alone" as well as an attempt to create a broader idea of civil society. These original essays contribute to the examination of democratic theory and practice, exploring one of the most popular causes of this decline in public trust--social capital. These critical essays are written by specialists and scholars in American politics and American political thought. They utilize diverse methodologies--empirical and philosophical--and multiple perspectives to examine critically the social capital discourse and how it is related to political participation, civic engagement, and American democracy.

Contributor Bio:  Brown, Michael In 1980, Michael Brown was afflicted with an acutely painful neurological condition for which conventional medicine had neither cure nor relief. This caused him to set out on a 9-year odyssey of self-healing which took him into - Then Beyond - many alternative healing modalities. The result is his unique and evolutionary new healing method: The Presence Process. Contributor Bio:  Schultz, David David is Director of the Doctoral Program in Public Administration at Hamline University. Contributor Bio:  Steger, Manfred B Manfred Steger is Associate Professor of Political Science at Illinois State University.