The Upswing: How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again By: Robert D Putnam [Audiobook]

Author: Robert D. Putnam, Shaylyn Romney Garrett – contributor
Narrated by: Arthur Morey

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 20th 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.

24M	The Upswing - Part 01.mp3
22M	The Upswing - Part 02.mp3
23M	The Upswing - Part 03.mp3
22M	The Upswing - Part 04.mp3
21M	The Upswing - Part 05.mp3
19M	The Upswing - Part 06.mp3
19M	The Upswing - Part 07.mp3
19M	The Upswing - Part 08.mp3
20M	The Upswing - Part 09.mp3
19M	The Upswing - Part 10.mp3
25M	The Upswing - Part 11.mp3
23M	The Upswing - Part 12.mp3
37M	The Upswing - Part 13.mp3
21M	The Upswing - Part 14.mp3
18M	The Upswing - Part 15.mp3
32M	The Upswing - Part 16.mp3
356M	total