Ezra's Bookshelf

The Upswing

by Robert D. Putnam and Shaylyn Romney Garrett · 480 pages · ~8.5 hrs

HistorySociety & Culture

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Robert Putnam, whose 'Bowling Alone' documented America's declining social capital, teams with Shaylyn Romney Garrett to trace a century-long arc in American life. Using data on economics, politics, society, and culture, they show that America transformed from an individualistic 'I' society in the Gilded Age to a more communitarian 'We' society through the early twentieth century. This upswing peaked around 1960, then reversed. The book examines how Progressive Era reformers rebuilt community bonds, expanded opportunity, and created the institutions that midcentury Americans inherited. It then traces how the individualistic turn that began in the 1960s unwound these achievements. Putnam and Garrett draw lessons from the earlier generation of reformers, arguing that they faced challenges as daunting as our own and found ways to turn things around. The authors examine economic inequality, political polarization, social fragmentation, and cultural narcissism as interconnected phenomena that rise and fall together. Their data-driven approach reveals patterns invisible in shorter time frames. The book offers neither nostalgia for the past nor despair about the future, but rather evidence that deliberate effort by committed citizens can shift society's trajectory. It's a cautiously hopeful work grounded in rigorous historical analysis.

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