Better Together: Restoring the American Community

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 America’s 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, it’s 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.

Robert D. Putnam is the Malkin Research Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University and a former Dean of the John F. Kennedy School of Government. Nationally honored as a leading humanist and a renowned scientist, he has written fourteen books, including the bestselling Our Kids and Bowling Alone, and has consulted for the last four US Presidents. In 2012, President Obama awarded him the National Humanities Medal, the nation’s highest honor for contributions to the humanities. His research program, the Saguaro Seminar, is dedicated to fostering civic engagement in America. Visit RobertDPutnam.com.

Lewis M. Feldstein is president of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation. Feldstein cochaired the Saguaro Seminar, worked with the civil rights movement in Mississippi, was a senior staff member for former New York City mayor John V. Lindsay, and was formerly provost of the Antioch/New England Graduate School. He lives in Hancock, New Hampshire.