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In his national bestseller Bowling Alone, Robert Putnam illuminated the decline of social capital in the US. Now, in Democracies in Flux, Putnam brings together a group of leading scholars who broaden his findings as they examine the state of social capital in eight advanced democracies around the ...

In his national bestseller Bowling Alone, Robert Putnam illuminated the decline of social capital in the US. Now, in Democracies in Flux, Putnam brings together a group of leading scholars who broaden his findings as they examine the state of social capital in eight advanced democracies around the world. The book is packed with many intriguing revelations. The contributors note, for instance, that waning participation in unions, churches, and political parties seems to be virtually universal, a troubling discovery as these forms of social capital are especially important for empowering less educated, less affluent portions of the population. Indeed, in general, the researchers found more social grouping among the affluent than among the working classes and they find evidence of a younger generation that is singularly uninterested in politics, distrustful both of politicians and of others, cynical about public affairs, and less inclined to participate in enduring social organizations. On the bright side, social capital appears as strong as ever in Sweden, where 40% of the adult population participate in "study circles"--small groups who meet weekly for educational discussions. Offering a panoramic look at social capital around the world, this book makes an important contribution to our understanding of these phenomena.

Why does poverty exist? Why is there social pathology and human degradation? Is it always because of oppression and discrimination? No, says Professor Seymour Itzkoff of Smith College. The real reason is the tragedy of low human intelligence and the consequent inability of humans to compete in ...

Why does poverty exist? Why is there social pathology and human degradation? Is it always because of oppression and discrimination? No, says Professor Seymour Itzkoff of Smith College. The real reason is the tragedy of low human intelligence and the consequent inability of humans to compete in highly complex and dynamic economic and social environments. The Road to Equality: Evolution and Social Reality contains Itzkoff's highly controversial analysis of the failures of the welfare approach to helping the poor. It also contains his radical solution to the perennial problems of inequality in nations and the consequent turmoil and revolution. Equalize the intelligence of your nation, Itzkoff argues, and you will soon eliminate the tragic social and economic differences between large portions of the population. It is high intelligence in groups of humans that creates civilization and prosperity in the first place. Merely placing individuals of lower intelligence in such environments has not ensured their success. And it never will, predicts the professor, because it violates the facts of our evolutionary and sociobiological nature. The 21st century will change the relationships of nations in the most radical manner that history has ever seen. The requirements of technological competency have put a premium on high educable intelligence. Even today we see that nations of uniformly high intelligence of various racial and ethnic heritage are pulling away from those with lower national intellectual profiles. Itzkoff writes that many of the social pathologies in nations such as the United States, as well as their relative economic decline, can be so attributed. The future of human equality, heconcludes, must lie in an international resolve to face up to the most basic challenge to world peace, the variability of intelligence in the human species.

This analysis of modern problems suggests that human evolution is tragic. Kitahara argues that a logical inconsistency in the philosophy of the Enlightenment has caused humans to approach their environment in a way that is inconsistent with their biological background. He concludes that the tyranny ...

This analysis of modern problems suggests that human evolution is tragic. Kitahara argues that a logical inconsistency in the philosophy of the Enlightenment has caused humans to approach their environment in a way that is inconsistent with their biological background. He concludes that the tyranny of the majority and the technology humans have developed deny human variation, and that the drive to manipulate the environment is the wellspring of modern, sociocultural phenomena. This book is of immense value to scholars of anthropology, sociology, philosophy, history, political science, and environmental studies.

This book builds on the notion that social pathology differs from society to society and that the sense of character that develops in each society is specific to different perceptions of interpersonal obligations and responsibilities in that society. The book deals with the cultural and ...

This book builds on the notion that social pathology differs from society to society and that the sense of character that develops in each society is specific to different perceptions of interpersonal obligations and responsibilities in that society. The book deals with the cultural and psychological effects of social change relevant to the study of modernity and postmodernity. It deals with particular social issues such as war and conflict, juvenile delinquency, problems of social ecology and religious revivalism, all reflecting the stresses of modern life and social change within very concrete, particular environments. Braun and his contributors show how individual character and civil society evolve together to create culturally specific trajectories of social change.