America at Risk: The Crisis of Hope, Trust, and Caring

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In America at Risk: The Crisis of Hope, Trust, and Caring, Robert Perrucci and Carolyn C. Perrucci identify the broad economic and technological changes that have led to the loss of high wage jobs, declining opportunity, and increased income and wealth inequality. These changes have altered the way that Americans think about themselves, their future, and the lives of their children and neighbors. Focusing on the erosion of trust, hope, and caring between and among Americans and their social institutions, the authors confront the challenge by proposing policies that will build hope (through jobs and wages) in order to promote greater trust of institutions and more caring for the less fortunate.

Examining data from the past thirty-year period, Perrucci and Perrucci apply a critical sociological lens to view the dominant economic, political, and cultural institutions that have shaped the main social problems facing Americans. They challenge Americans to act on behalf of their individual and collective interests by becoming informed and involved in developing new solutions to improve their lives.

Reviews

America at Risk is the culmination of two lifetimes of rigorous research and nuanced thought about the multiplex crises facing the United States today. As Perrucci and Perrucci fit together the jigsaw pieces of the socio-economic devastation we are now facing, a portrait emerges of the policies that set in motion the fast-acting processes that have robbed our society of its economic vitality. In developing this portrait they direct our attention to perhaps the most dire consequence of this decaythe severe erosion of hope, trust, and caring at the ground level, among our ordinary citizens." -- Michael Schwartz
Hope, trust, and caringthree indispensable ingredients for a secure and democratic society. Perrucci and Perrucci argue that these ingredients have been eroded by institutional restructuring and an ever-growing cultural crisis over the last thirty years. Analyzing employment, educational, community, and familial experiences as they vary by class, race, age, and gender, America at Risk proposes an agenda to place hope, trust, and caring at the center of social life. It is highly readable and accessible. -- Vicki Smith, University of California, Davis
This book sharply examines employment, educational, community, and familial experiences as they vary across race, age, class, gender and geographic location. Illustrative, eye-opening facts and figures abound . . .Books like America at Risk , while certainly not pretending to have all the answers to society's ills, can aid in starting a dialogue, if not actually getting things moving forward. * Tilth Creative Collaborative *
The many volumes that Robert Perrucci and Carolyn Perrucci have written over the past decades on plant closings, class inequality, work, women, and the family have culminated in this impressive book emphasizing the social consequences of the deindustrializating economy of the United States....America at Risk is clear and concise, providing essential information without overloading. * Contemporary Sociology *
Impressive book. . . . The Perruccis use their critical sociological perspective to extend an analysis of not just the economic crisis itself, but how that crisis has led to a cultural and institutional crossroads.. . . . America at Risk argues for the recognition of the most compelling racial grievances and a program focused on the "class politics.". . . . America at Risk will find an audience within the academy as a framework for sociologists and public policy experts researching which features of the current economic crisis will significantly shape popular perceptions around hope, trust, and caring....America at Risk is clear and concise, providing essential information without overloading. -- Clarence Y.H. Lo, Author of Small Property vs. Big Government: Social Origins of the Property Tax Revolt * Contemporary Sociology *
Essential reading for the new Obama Administration and for all Americans in the current crisis. This book connects the breakdown in trust with the corporate global policies that have stripped Americans of their jobs and dreams. The Perruccis exemplify the sociological imagination we need for the 21st century. -- Charles Derber, Boston College; author of Welcome to the Revolution: Universalizing Resistance for Social Justice and Democracy in Perilous Times

Author Bio

Robert Perrucci is professor of sociology at Purdue University. He has served as president of the Society for the Study of Social Problems, associate editor of the American Sociological Review, and editor of the American Sociologist, Social Problems, and Contemporary Sociology. In 2005 he received the Lee Founders Career Achievement Award from the Society for the Study of Social Problems.

Carolyn C. Perrucci is professor of sociology at Purdue University. She has co-authored or co-edited three books: Marriage and the Family: A Critical Analysis and Proposals for Change, Women in Scientific and Engineering Professions, and Plant Closings: International Context and Social Costs. She has contributed to numerous journals, including: American Sociological Review, International Journal of the Humanities, Journal of Marriage and the Family, Social Problems, Sociology and Social Research, Sociology of Education, and The Sociological Quarterly.