After America's midlife crisis
By: Michael Gecan.
Series: Boston review books
Publisher: MIT Press
Published: 2009
Place of publication: Cambridge, MA
Language: eng
Format: Hardcover
Number of pages: 128
ISBN-13: 9780262013604
Subjects: Social capital (Sociology) -- United States; Social institutions -- United States; Education, Urban -- United States
Description: Michael Gecan paints a vivid picture of civic, political, and religious institutions in decline, from suburban budget crises to failing public schools: a national mid-life crisis. He reveals an urban landscape in which careerism, nepotism, and greed are the principal movers in policy, while the institutions that preserve and advance communities - schools, churches, affordable housing, recreational opportunities - have fallen prey to the indifference of pols and developers and the shortsightedness of technocrats. But Gecan would not be a lifelong organizer if he did not see the possibility for change. With relational work - the heart of organizing - at the center of new efforts, he shows how local experiments can create vibrant institutions that truly serve their constituents. Most importantly, he calls on national and local leadership to shed old ways of thinking and face new realities.
Table of contents: title: Introduction: The Triangle
pagenum: 1; label: 1
title: On Borrowed Time
pagenum: 25; label: 2
title: New Experiments for an Old Problem
pagenum: 55; label: 3
title: A Fair Start
pagenum: 103