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American society is experiencing a profound crisis of trust, from government to mass media to educational and religious institutions. And -- whether we realize it or not -- this crisis affects us all. In Building Cultures of Trust, Martin Marty proposes ways of improving the conditions for trust at what might be called the "grass roots" level. He suggests that it makes a difference if citizens put energy into inventing, developing, and encouraging "cultures of trust" in all areas of life -- families, schools, neighborhoods, workplaces, churches, and more. Marty believes that such efforts at trust-building will do more than trickle up to larger areas of society; it will become a slow spreading of habits of honesty, inspiring trust on a culture-changing scale. Far from naïve, Marty realizes that the reality of human nature tends towards trust-breaking, not trust-building. All the more reason, he argues, to develop strategies to bring about improvements, one small step at a time.
About the author
Martin E. Marty (1928-2025) was the Fairfax M. Cone Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago's Divinity School, where he taught for thirty-five years. He also served for five decades as an editor for
The Christian Century. A prolific writer, Marty authored more than sixty books, including
Righteous Empire: The Protestant Experience in America, which won the National Book Award. He was renowned for his work in the areas of religious history, religious pluralism, and public theology.
