MixedFinancial Times\"Eric Klinenberg, a sociology professor at New York University, began his career in Chicago and his first book Heatwave explored the role social bonds played in explaining why the 1995 heatwave affected some Chicagoans more severely than others. He has since published studies on \'solo living\' and dating that similarly worry about the fate of social ties in the modern world. Palaces of the People represents a more ambitious work, championing the importance of what Klinenberg calls \'social infrastructure\' to our individual and collective wellbeing ... Palaces of the People has its limitations. For an academic, Klinenberg shows little interest in the evolution of thinking about social infrastructure or contemporary discussions of related ideas. Indeed the concept never quite comes into focus. Yet this is a significant and engaging work ... Klinenberg’s argument has a powerful simplicity. Look after the social infrastructure and social bonds will largely look after themselves.
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