Other interesting and relevant books

Matt Ridley, Origins of Virtue (an interesting examination of what makes humans and other species cooperate.)

Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point (with interesting discussion of value of “connectors”)

Alan Ehrenhalt, The Lost City (an informative discussion of civic and community life in 3 different neighborhoods in Chicago in the 1950s)

Michael Schudson, The Good Citizen (a history of citizen involvement in America).

Donald Cohen and Laurence Prusak, In Good Company (a description of the importance of social capital to corporations)

Laurent Parks Daloz, Sharon Daloz Parks, James and Cheryl Keen, Common Fire (an examination of what common denominators make individuals commit to lives of extraordinary commitment to others and their communities)

Benjamin R. Barber. Jihad vs. McWorld: How Globalism and Tribalism Are Reshaping the World (a fascinating look and centripetal and centrifugal forces that are both making the world into a more homogenous and more tribal society.)

Ray Oldenburg (Editor). Celebrating the Third Place: Inspiring Stories About the "Great Good Places" at the Heart of Our Communities. (a look into the importance of neighborhood spaces in building stronger communities.)

Ashutosh Varshney, Ethnic Conflict and Civic Life (Yale University Press, 2003) (an interesting discussion, based on a comparison of communities in India, of the intersection of diversity with ethnic conflict).

[For a longer list of social capital related books, see the Bibliography page.]