We welcome review copies of books by alumni. The books are donated to the Swarthmoreana section of McCabe Library after they have been noted for this column.
This is a terrific book--and I'm not saying this out of Swarthmore loyalty. It addresses a big and interesting issue, namely, the current crisis of civic disengagement. Think here of the rapid increase in nonvoting since 1960, the general indifference to politics, and the rise of "bowling alone," to use another Swarthmore graduate's apt term for Americans' massive switch in how they use their leisure time. As Robert Putnam '63, the coiner of that phrase, has found, Americans now spend a lot more of their time in front of the television, on the Internet, and at museums and sports stadiums. As a result, they no longer volunteer nor join other networks of trusting interconnectedness, such as bowling leagues and book clubs.
Schudson explores the current "crisis" by examining how civic connectedness evolved before we got to our current discontent. About 95 percent of The Good Citizen is about the past, an expert tour of political practices and their underlying assumptions from the colonial period to the present. Schudson believes that we will never understand our current crisis unless we place it in historical perspective. He asks a question that is hardly obvious but is nonetheless right: What is today's crisis a case of? If that question is properly answered, Schudson suggests, we can avoid a falsely alarmist inference that our country has turned its back on the wisdom of a lost, golden age.
Our current discontent, he asserts, is actually the latest iteration of a cycle of discontent over democracy's functioning that stretches back to the Revolution. The issues have hardly been the same, of course, from one turn of the cycle to the next; our society is too dynamic for that. But think about George Washington's farewell address, in which he complains about the proto-parties that, to him, meant a falling away from the civitas and virtue of the Foundation. Or remember the mugwumps of the 1880s and 1890s, who decried their era's political parades, vote buying, fisticuffs and brawls on election day--a day that should instead be a moment of thoughtful reflection on issues.
Yet The Good Citizen offers considerably more than tales of democracy's discontents. Most of its analysis focuses on our national accomplishments in constructing and constantly revising a public sphere--including our shifting ideas about what constitutes good citizenship.
In a sense, Schudson is having a dialogue with Aristotle. Among the oldest and best political insights are Aristotle's famous distinction between the good person and the good citizen, and his idea that citizenship varies in relation to its physical, moral, and social circumstances. Schudson shows, as Aristotle might have, that Americans have periodically re-created the circumstances of citizenship, building, for instance, a party system in one period that reached deep into daily life, then taming and reforming these same parties in the next. In periodically revising our earlier public sphere, we have not lost virtue, or what it meant to be a good person, but we have simply refashioned the context for and assumptions of citizenship.
Here we get to Schudson's most striking and daring claim: What looks like a recent flight from political involvement is actually a new kind of political involvement. We may not vote as much as we once did, but we are nonetheless being citizens when we monitor our workplaces for invidious gender or racial discrimination or when we monitor debates about Social Security and other social rights. When we push for and use such rights, we implement and animate the new citizenship.
Now, if you want to be a good citizen--and gain a better understanding of what that means--read this subtle, wise, and lucid book. It will recast how you think about the political world around you and make it possible for you to find the current state of American politics a cause for both concern and satisfaction.
--Rick Valelly '75
Associate Professor of Political Science
Here's the good news: If you are old enough to be reading this piece, the odds favor your living to be at least 85. And here's the bad news: If you make it to 85, there is a 50-50 chance that you will develop Alzheimer's disease or one of the other types of dementia that make you completely dependent on others. And you will have plenty of company. If you turn 85 in 2030, you will be one of nine million; if you turn 85 in 2050, you will be one of 19 million.
Muriel Garfunkel Gillick, M.D., '72 has written a wonderful book about Alz-heimer's disease and other dementias. She is a professor at the Harvard Medical School, where she directs the Geriatric Fellowship Program and spends much of her time treating elderly people. The book takes us through the course of Alzheimer's disease--from initial diagnosis to death--in Sylvia, an imaginary patient who is actually a composite of several people Gillick has cared for. We watch through Gillick's eyes as vibrant Sylvia goes through the process of decomposition. We see what it does to Sylvia and what it does to her devoted family. We see in detail the difficult decisions that a family faces at almost every step of their mother's deterioration.
But we see much more than Sylvia and her kin. Chapters about Sylvia alternate with chapters that lay out the science, history, politics, economics, and sociology of dementia in particular and aging in general. We learn of much recent scientific progress on several fronts but that no clear answer is yet in sight. We tackle the question of whether dementia is really a "disease" or just "normal aging," and we see how that question affects the politics of research support. We see how the reimbursement policies of insurance companies and the economic interests of the "medico-industrial complex" can get in the way of the most effective care of demented people. We even get a glimpse of the social construction of "aging" and see how especially painful Alzheimer's disease is in a culture that prizes individualism and independence above all else. But after each of these general discussions, we get brought back to the particular as we encounter another chapter in the end of Sylvia's life.
I have a few minor quibbles with the book. First, I don't think the book's title and controlling metaphor--"tangled" minds--serves well. Things that are "tangled" can get untangled and corrected. It is quite unlikely that the deterioration that characterizes dementia is reversible. Further, the cognitive nature of that deterioration suggests vacancy rather than confusion. Yes, initially there is confusion. But before too long, there is little left that can get confused. I think "hollowed" minds would be a more accurate description.
Second, we see the effects of dementia on a family that seems to have all the time and money it needs to do what is necessary at every step of the process. Those effects are devastating. But one can only imagine how much more devastating it would be for a family that had neither the time nor the money to respond quickly and appropriately to every emergency.
But these quibbles really are minor. Whether we are aging parents or their nervous children, this book will help us prepare ourselves and our loved ones for what may grow to be inevitable as other branches of medicine get better at keeping us alive indefinitely.
--Barry Schwartz
Dorwin P. Cartwright Professor
of Social Theory and Social Action
Byron Brown '74, Soul Without Shame: A Guide to Liberating Yourself From the Judge Within, Shambhala, 1999. Brown argues we are our own worst enemies, sabotaging attempts to flourish, and suggests ways to escape self-judgment.
Stephen M. Davidson '61 and Stephen A. Somers (eds.), Remaking Medicaid, Jossey-Bass, 1998. Health care leaders identify challenges facing policy makers, with guidance on Medicaid changes.
Joachim K. Krauss, Robert Grossman '53, and Joseph Jankovic (eds.), Pallidal Surgery for the Treatment of Parkinson's Disease and Movement Disorders, Lippincott-Raven, 1998. This clinically oriented book reviews the current knowledge on pallidal surgery and basal ganglia function.
Pieter M. Judson '78, Exclusive Revolutionaries: Liberal Politics, Social Experience, and National Identity in the Austrian Empire, 1848-1914, University of Michigan Press, 1996. Judson follows the German liberal and nationalist political culture in Austria from the revolutions of 1848 to the outbreak of World War I. Pieter M. Judson, Wien Brennt! Die Revolution von 1848 und ihr liberales Erbe, Böhlau Verlag, 1998. This book discusses the history of Vienna and the Revolution of 1848.
Dale G. Larrimore '72, Pennsylvania Rules of the Road, West Group, 1998. A book detailing state motor vehicle code that is designed to help lawyers prepare for accident cases.
Richard Martin '67, Cubism and Fashion, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Harry N. Abrams, 1998. This work shows evidence of cubist art influencing fashion designers from 1908 to the present.
Ann P. McNeal '64 and Charlene D'Avanzo (eds.), Student-Active Science: Models of Innovation in College Science Teaching, Saunders College Publishing, 1997. Articles by college science faculty and administrators present strategies for hands-on learning in the classroom.
Vicki Mechner '63 (ed.), Healing Journeys: The Power of Rubenfeld Synergy, OmniQuest Press, 1998. These personal stories illustrate ways to access the body's wisdom and healing potential.
Marcus Noland '81 (ed.), Economic Integration of the Korean Peninsula, Institute for International Economics, 1998. Contributors examine the Korean peninsula, including economic conditions and policies, the food crisis, and refugee flows. Marcus Noland, Li-Gang Liu, Sherman Robinson, and Zhi Wang, Global Economic Effects of the Asian Currency De-valuations, Institute for International Economics, 1998. This study discusses currency changes in countries in Asia, the United States, and Europe.
Edward and Andrea Packard '85, Mayday! Bantam Books, 1998. Part of the Choose Your Own Adventure series for young readers, this story with alternative endings features an emergency landing in remote areas of Alaska.
Robert H. Parks '49, Unlocking the Secrets of Wall Street: A Noted Expert Guides You Through Today's Financial Markets, Prometheus Books, 1998. Parks, a Wall Street economist, translates insider jargon and explains investing, speculation, and regulatory policy.
Sara J. Shettleworth (Mrosovsky) '65, Cognition, Evolution, and Behavior, Oxford University Press, 1998. This resource for students and researchers in psychology, zoology, and behavioral neuroscience describes how animals process, retain, and use information.
Mary McDermott Shideler '38, Visions and Nightmares, Ends and Beginnings: A Woman's Lifelong Journey, Scribendi Press, 1998. The third book, exploring identity and function, in an autobiographical series describes the author's experiences in her late 30s to middle 50s.
Simon St. Laurent '92, Sharing Bandwidth, IDG Books Worldwide, 1998. St. Laurent, a Web developer and network specialist, offers innovative ways to improve network connections.
Barbara Starfield '54, Primary Care: Balancing Health Needs, Services, and Technology, Oxford University Press, 1998. Starfield examines equity in health services and the overlap between clinical medicine and public health.
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