The UPSWING: An Amazing Book

THE UPSWING: How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can To It Again, Robert D Putnam and Shaylyn Romney Garrett’s most recent book is simply amazing! It is incredibly relevant for anyone interested in the political divide between Republicans/right-wing and Democrats/liberal-center people. It focuses significantly upon race, gender and class.

Putnam/Garrett’s basic hypothesis is that a (letter) “U” — aptly describes our movement from the gilded age of the late 1800’s through the present. He sees a movement from a societal “I” focus towards more of a “We” focus and then back to an “I (completing the “U”). Timewise things moved to “We” through the progressive era, World War I, (with a lull in the Roaring Twenties), the Depression, World War II, the post-war periods through the Civil Rights era of the 1950’s and 1960s. Then starting in a period between the mid- 1960’s and the early 1970’s, things have moved back from “We” to “I” through 2020, when the book was published.

The author’s emphasize in detail how the “We” has commonly not been a fully inclusive “We”. It has generally been a middle-class white men’s movement. Upper-middle class white women have pushed women’s issues, often opposing the interests of Black (and sometimes working-class) Women. They make very clear that a 21st century “We Movement” will need to be much, much more inclusive to succeed.

Putnam and Garrett reject some common popular beliefs about when significant progress has been made related to racism and sexism. They note the…