The Upswing by Robert Putnam with Shaylyn Romney Garrett

THE UPSWING by Robert D. Putnam and Shaylyn Romney Garrett is subtitled “How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again.” These authors use graphs (simplified on the cover) to look at patterns in America of political polarization, economic inequality, social isolation, and cultural self-centeredness over the past 100+ years. They discuss an “I/WE/I” paradigm, illustrating the power of people coming together and hypothesize as to whether or not the country is at a “pivot moment.” I always feel like Putnam can look at a situation which I have been struggling to understand and succinctly and memorably explain it. He and Romney Garrett have succeeded again in this text which discusses factors like a moral lens, the possibility of youth driven change and role of association as both an end and a means. THE UPSWING received a starred review from Kirkus and the authors participated in a recent Family Action Network event that was moderated by our own Spiro Bolos. Several students attended virtually and all had positive reaction; here is a recording, if you would like to see it also:

Putnam and Romney Garrett  also recently co-authored a New York Times Op-Ed piece which is worth a look: “Why Did Racial Progress Stall in America?”