Synopses & Reviews
In the past thirty years, the United States has undergone a profound transformation in its social structure: Crime has increased, trust has declined, families have broken down, and individualism has triumphed over community. Has the Great Disruption of recent decades rent the fabric of American society irreparably? In this brilliant and sweeping work of social, economic, and moral analysis, Francis Fukuyama shows that even as the old order has broken apart, a new social order is already taking its place. andlt;Iandgt;The Great Disruptionandlt;/Iandgt; forges a new model for understanding the Great Reconstruction that is under way.
Review
Linda Chavez andlt;Iandgt;The Washington Timesandlt;/Iandgt; With another presidential campaign gearing up -- and the inevitable discussion of family values that each election brings -- andlt;Iandgt;The Great Disruptionandlt;/Iandgt; ought to be required reading among both parties' candidates.
Review
Andrew Ferguson andlt;Iandgt;The Weekly Standardandlt;/Iandgt; andlt;Iandgt;The Great Disruptionandlt;/Iandgt; is a learned and impressive work, ranging easily across disciplines, combining fact and argument in subtle and unexpected ways.
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Walter Kirn andlt;Iandgt;New York Magazineandlt;/Iandgt; Fukuyama is no alarmist -- he's too cool for that, too academic and wedded to the sociological long view -- but now and then he spins a nightmare scenario....Fukuyama draws on a dozen disciplines, from game theory to genetics, to make his case that stable states arise naturally from chaotic interludes the way Sunday morning follows Saturday night.
Review
Linda Chavez
The Washington Times
With another presidential campaign gearing up -- and the inevitable discussion of family values that each election brings -- The Great Disruption ought to be required reading among both parties' candidates.
Review
Howard Gleckman andlt;Iandgt;Business Weekandlt;/Iandgt; Agree with him or not, Fukuyama makes a challenging case.
Review
George Scialabba andlt;Iandgt;The Boston Globeandlt;/Iandgt; [Fukuyama] has made out a great deal in this book and his previous books, and will undoubtedly teach us a great deal more. Three seminal books in a mere seven years. What next?
Review
Michael Kazin andlt;Iandgt;The Washington Post Book Worldandlt;/Iandgt; Fukuyama is one of the few American intellectuals of any ideological bent capable of training a knowledge of world history and a grasp of social theory on topics of undeniable contemporary significance.
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Virginia Postrel andlt;Iandgt;Los Angeles Timesandlt;/Iandgt; Innovative...engaging....Fukuyama provides a lucid course in "one of the most important intellectual developments of the late twentieth century."
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Anthony Gottlieb andlt;Iandgt;The New York Times Book Reviewandlt;/Iandgt; Francis Fukuyama is an analyst who does not, intellectually speaking, get out of bed for anything less than the all-encompassing grand sweep of history....His new book, andlt;Iandgt;The Great Disruption,andlt;/Iandgt; tackles social and moral development on the same grand scale as his earlier work.
Review
Alan Ehrenhalt andlt;Iandgt;The Wall Street Journalandlt;/Iandgt; One of the ways we learn about dramatic social change in the 1990s is that Francis Fukuyama shows up to tell us it is happening....He asks large questions; and he changes the agenda of public debate. We are still talking about andlt;Iandgt;The End of History.andlt;/Iandgt; I imagine we will be talking about andlt;Iandgt;The Great Disruptionandlt;/Iandgt; for quite a while.
Review
Charles Murray andlt;Iandgt;Commentaryandlt;/Iandgt; andlt;Iandgt;The Great Disruptionandlt;/Iandgt; takes on questions that go to the heart of social policy writ large. It is written with never-failing lucidity, brings together vast and disparate literatures, and makes one think in new ways about the prospects of post-industrial society. That is quite enough for one book.
About the Author
andlt;Bandgt;Francis Fukuyamaandlt;/Bandgt; is a professor of public policy at George Mason University and the author of andlt;Iandgt;The End of Historyandlt;/Iandgt; and the andlt;Iandgt;Last Man and Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity.andlt;/Iandgt; He lives in McLean, Virginia.
Table of Contents
andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Bandgt;Contentsandlt;/Bandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Iandgt;Acknowledgmentsandlt;/Iandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Bandgt; Part ONE: The Great Disruptionandlt;/Bandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt; 1. Playing by the Rulesandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt; 2. Crime, Family, Trust: What Happenedandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt; 3. Causes: The Conventional Wisdom andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt; 4. Causes: Demographic, Economic, and Culturalandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt; 5. The Special Role of Womenandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt; 6. Consequences of the Great Disruptionandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt; 7. Was the Great Disruption Inevitable?andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Bandgt; Part TWO: On the Genealogy of Moralsandlt;/Bandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt; 8. Where Do Norms Come From?andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt; 9. Human Nature and Social Orderandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;10. The Origins of Cooperationandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;11. Self-Organizationandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;12. Technology, Networks, and Social Capitalandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;13. The Limits of Spontaneity and the Inevitability of Hierarchyandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;14. Beyond Cave 76andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Bandgt; Part THREE: the great reconstructionandlt;/Bandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;15. Does Capitalism Deplete Social Capital?andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;16. Reconstructions Past, Present, and Futureandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Appendix: Additional Data and Sourcesandlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Iandgt;Notesandlt;/Iandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Iandgt;Bibliographyandlt;/Iandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;Iandgt;Indexandlt;/Iandgt;