Meet Bestselling Author Eric Klinenberg at The Ferguson Library

Renowned sociologist and #1 New York Times bestselling author Eric Klinenberg will be the featured speaker on Thursday, September 13 at 7 p.m. at the Ernest A. DiMattia, Jr. Building of The Ferguson Library. He will be talking about his new book, Palaces for the People: How Social Infrastructure Can Help Fight Inequality, Polarization, and the Decline of Civic Life. Refreshments will be served and there will be a book sale and signing. Register online at fergusonlibrary.org/event/.

Mr. Klinenberg is a professor of sociology and the director of the Institute for Public Knowledge at New York University. He coined the term “social infrastructure” to describe the libraries, day-care centers, bookstores, coffee shops, and community gardens that shape our face-to-face interactions, and he has been exploring it for decades, beginning with his landmark study of Chicago during the city’s 1995 heat wave. He was the research director for the Obama administration’s Rebuild by Design project, where he worked to integrate social infrastructure into post–Hurricane Sandy rebuilding plans. In Palaces for the People, he applies this deep knowledge to diverse communities and challenges around the globe—from Singapore to Brazil and from East New York to Silicon Valley—to show how interactive physical spaces can help combat some of the most profound problems of our time, from political polarization to climate change. Palaces for the People demonstrates the critical role social infrastructure plays in civic life, and offers an inspiring vision of how it can help bridge our seemingly unbridgeable divides.

The author expresses that investing in social infrastructure is just as urgent as investing in conventional infrastructure such as bridges, levees, and airports – that often, we can strengthen both simultaneously, establishing vital social arteries that are also “palaces for the people,” to borrow the phrase Andrew Carnegie used to describe the 2,800 grand libraries that he built around the world.

Eric Klinenberg is the coauthor of the #1 New York Times bestseller Modern Romance. His previous books include Going Solo: The Extraordinary Rise and Surprising Appeal of Living Alone, Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago, and Fighting for Air: The Battle to Control America’s Media. In addition to his books and scholarly articles, Klinenberg has contributed to The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone, Wired, and This American Life.

For more information, call 203 351-8231. The Ernest A. DiMattia, Jr. Building of The Ferguson Library is located at the corner of Bedford and Broad Streets, Stamford.

(author photo credit: Lisa DeNeffe)