If you believe that we can do better as individuals and as a nation, you are not alone. In conversations spanning almost 15 years in dozens of communities across America, Richard C. Harwood, president and founder of The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation, has found a nation struggling with growing consumerism, distorted realities, and false divisions that cut across cultural, political, and media landscapes. Harwood's latest book, Hope Unraveled: The People's Retreat and Our Way Back, chronicles these conversations, which show citizens' evolution from anger, to frustration, to ultimately a retreat from public life. A vital resource for all who work to create change and move the nation forward, Hope Unraveled reveals a reality that transcends the purported red-blue divide and lays out an alternate path for politics and public life for all Americans.

Hope Unraveled: The People's Retreat and Our Way Back

Politics & Social Sciences

Richard C. Harwood

Sociology

Kettering Foundation Press

Why We're Here: The Powerful Impact of Public Broadcasters When They Turn Outward

Aaron B Leavy

Kettering Foundatiuon Press

In 1991, "Citizens and Politics: A View from Main Street" was released by author Richard C. Harwood and the Kettering Foundation. This groundbreaking study found that Americans were not apathetic about politics and public life, but instead felt pushed out, disconnected, and impotent.

More than two decades later, the conversation has radically changed. If in 1991 people's main focus was about the political system and its ills, then 2012 is about something more distinctly human. People feel they live in a "Tower of Babel" - bereft of a sense of possibility, unable to come together and get things done, and exhausted by the public recrimination and acrimony that hold our public discourse hostage.

But what Harwood also found during his travels across the country is a deep yearning among Americans to kick-start a new direction for the nation, a new sense of hope and possibility. Under the right conditions, people can and will start on this new path - turning outward toward their community with more openness, compassion, and concern for the common good. And this new path will take shape only through actions that start small and local, between and among people, in a place where they can begin on a human scale.

The good news is that people are ready to start.

The Work of Hope (How Individuals & Organizations Can Authentically Do Good) by Richard C. Harwood (2012-01-01)

Philosophy

The Kettering Foundation

The Hope We Share How do we bring people together when our society is breaking apart? What will it take to bridge our divides, overcome mistrust, and restore our belief that we can get things done together as Americans. In Stepping Forward, Richard C. Harwood gives us a new and inspiring blueprint to rediscover what we share in common and actively build upon it. He argues that to get the country moving in the right direction, these efforts must start in our local communities. Harwood shows us how we can reach within and beyond ourselves to address our shared challenges and create more purpose and meaning in our lives by Being a part of something larger than ourselves and truly making a difference in our communities Refocusing on the desire for good in each other Unleashing a greater sense of shared responsibility Finding the courage and humility to take such a path Americans are yearning for answers to the countrys rampant polarization, hate speech, and gridlock. Stepping Forward shows us how to channel our frustrations, energies, and aspirations to get on a more hopeful path.

Stepping Forward: A Positive, Practical Path to Transform Our Communities and Our Lives

Politics & Government

Greenleaf Book Group Press

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Books by Richard C. Harwood