Monday, June 6th, 2016 What Happened? The Curious Case of Social Change in 20th Century America

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THIS EVENT IS NOW COMPLETELY SOLD OUT. IF YOU WISH TO ADD YOUR NAME TO THE WAIT LIST, PLEASE VISIT THE EVENTBRITE PAGE AT: http://robertputnam.eventbrite.ca.

The Environics Institute for Survey Research, the Centre for the Study of the United States, and the Munk School of Global Affairs invite you to a special event in commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the Environics Institute:

A special presentation by Harvard political scientist Robert Putnam:
What Happened? The Curious Case of Social Change in 20th Century America.

Followed by a panel discussion on the Canadian perspective with:

Rahul Bhardwaj, Toronto Foundation (moderator)
Dr. Keith Banting, Queen’s University
Dr. Kwame McKenzie, Wellesley Institute

Material well-being (per capita income, life expectancy) in America rose steadily throughout the 20th century. By contrast many major aspects of American society, politics, and economics from 1900 to today followed a clear but puzzling pattern – rising strongly and steadily from 1900 to about 1970, and then falling by equal measure from 1970 to today. This pattern applies to income and wealth equality, associational membership and personal philanthropy, cross-party political collaboration, social integration, union membership, progressive tax rates, and the native-born proportion of the population. What happened to cause such a seismic shift in the direction of society? Understanding the origins of such a massive pendular swing from individualism to communitarianism and back again could inform our thinking about how to restore balance to America. And it may have important lessons for Canada and other western democracies.

Robert D. Putnam is the Peter and Isabel Malkin Professor of Public Policy at Harvard University. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the British Academy, and past president of the American Political Science Association. He has written 14 books, translated into more than 20 languages, including Bowling Alone and Making Democracy Work, both among the most cited publications in the social sciences in the last half century. His 2010 book (co-authored with David E. Campbell), American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us, won the American Political Science Association’s 2011 Woodrow Wilson award as the best book in political science. He has consulted for American presidents, British prime ministers, French presidents, and hundreds of grassroots leaders and activists in many countries. His latest book, Our Kids: The American Dream in Crisis, on the growing class gap among American young people, was published in March 2015.