Table of Contents

Introduction Breaking Apart, Coming Together The Changing Meanings of Involvement Porous Institutions Saving the Suburbs Against the Odds in the Inner City Surviving in Small-Town America The Good Citizen The Question of Trust The Larger Picture Methods Notes Index

Promotional Information

America has always been a nation of joiners. Loose Connections argues that we still have the habit, and it is a good one, of reaching out and connecting to others in order to participate in the civic life 0f our culture. Wuthnow is an indispensable observer of the American civic and religious scene. -- Jean Bethke Elshtain, author of Democracy on Trial This is a very important book, especially in the context of the current debate over 'social capital' in America. Wuthnow presents an optimistic picture of the state of American voluntary institutions. One might sum up his view by saying that Alexis de Tocqueville has still not been proven wrong. -- Peter Berger, Boston University

About the Author

Robert Wuthnow is Gerhard Andlinger Professor of Social Sciences, Professor of Sociology, and Director of the Center for the Study of American Religion, at Princeton University.

Reviews

America has always been a nation of joiners. Loose Connections argues that we still have the habit, and it is a good one, of reaching out and connecting to others in order to participate in the civic life 0f our culture. Wuthnow is an indispensable observer of the American civic and religious scene.
*Jean Bethke Elshtain, author of Democracy on Trial*

This is a very important book, especially in the context of the current debate over 'social capital' in America. Wuthnow presents an optimistic picture of the state of American voluntary institutions. One might sum up his view by saying that Alexis de Tocqueville has still not been proven wrong.
*Peter Berger, Boston University*