In this indispensable book, urban visionary Jane Jacobs--renowned author of The Death and Life of Great American
Cities and The Economy of Cities--convincingly argues that as agrarianism gives way to a technology-based future,
we stand on the brink of a new dark age, a period of cultural collapse. Jacobs pinpoints five pillars of our culture
that are in serious decay: community and family; higher education; the effective practice of science; taxation,
and government; and the self-regulation of the learned professions. The corrosion of these pillars, Jacobs argues,
is linked to societal ills such as environmental crisis, racism, and the growing gulf between rich and poor.
But this is a hopeful book as well as a warning. Drawing on her vast frame of reference--from fifteenth-century
Chinese shipbuilding to Ireland's cultural rebirth--Jacobs suggests how the cycles of decay can be arrested and
our way of life renewed. Invigorating and accessible, Dark Age Ahead is not only the crowning achievement of Jane
Jacobs' career, but one of the most important works of our time.
Table of Contents
1. The hazard
2. Families rigged to fail
3. Credentialing versus educating
4. Science abandoned
5. Dumbed-down taxes
6. Self-policing subverted
7. Unwinding vicious spirals
8. Dark age patterns