Sociability And Its Discontents ― Civil Society, Social Capital, and Their Alternatives in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe

This collection of articles is an historical correction to sociologist Robert Putnam's study Making Democracy Work He collected data that appeared to show a difference in "social civility" between northern and southern Italy in the Early Modern period. He felt this was due to a greater degree of trust and cooperation between civic groups in the north and a "feudal" domination by authorities in the south. Eckstein and Terpstra invited historians to comment on this. The result varies from a complete rejection of Putnam's theories to a cautious acceptance of them, with modifications. The articles provide case studies of city-states in Renaissance Italy as well as examples from England and Ghent. The authors state in each case that Putnam's hypothesis is too simplistic and that a "civil society" can exist under many more conditions than he proposes, including an apparently authoritarian regime. This book will be of interest to sociologists as well as historians. Distributed in North America by The David Brown Book Co. Annotation c2010 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)