Klinenberg, Eric, author.

Palaces for the people : how social infrastructure can help fight inequality, polarization, and the decline of civic life / Eric Klinenberg.

First edition.

New York : Crown, [2018]
©2018

277 pages : illustrations ; 25 cm

An eminent sociologist offers an inspiring blueprint for rebuilding our fractured society. We are living in a time of deep divisions. Americans are sorting themselves along racial, religious, and cultural lines, leading to a level of polarization that the country hasn't seen since the Civil War. Pundits and politicians are calling for us to come together, to find common purpose. But how, exactly, can this be done? In this book, the author suggests a way forward. He believes that the future of democratic societies rests not simply on shared values but on shared spaces: the libraries, childcare centers, bookstores, churches, synagogues, and parks where crucial, sometimes life-saving connections, are formed. These are places where people gather and linger, making friends across group lines and strengthening the entire community. The author calls this the "social infrastructure": when it is strong, neighborhoods flourish; when it is neglected, as it has been in recent years, families and individuals must fend for themselves. The author takes us around the globe - from a floating school in Bangladesh to an arts incubator in Chicago, from a soccer pitch in Queens to an evangelical church in Houston - to show how social infrastructure is helping to solve some of our most pressing challenges: isolation, crime, education, addiction, political polarization, and even climate change. This book urges readers to acknowledge the crucial role these spaces play in civic life. Our social infrastructure could be the key to bridging our seemingly unbridgeable divides - and safeguarding democracy. -- Adapted from jacket description.

9781524761165 (hardcover)
1524761168 (hardcover)
(electronic book)
9781524761189
9781524761172
1524761176
9781984822413
1984822411

Infrastructure (Economics) United States.
City planning United States.
Public spaces United States.
Equality United States.
Quality of life United States.
Espaces publics États-Unis.
Qualité de la vie États-Unis.
SOCIAL SCIENCE Sociology Urban.
POLITICAL SCIENCE Public Policy City Planning & Urban Development.
ARCHITECTURE Urban & Land Use Planning.
Public spaces.
City planning.
Equality.
Infrastructure (Economics)
Quality of life.
Öffentlicher Raum
Öffentliche Einrichtung
Kulturelle Einrichtung
Begegnungsstätte
Infrastruktur
Raumstruktur
Raumordnung
Stadtplanung
Stadtsoziologie
United States.

Nonfiction.

Location: Library main 304261
Call No.: BIB 249784
Status: Available