125
Putnam’s Saguaro Seminar, founded
in 1995, is named after the cactus that
he regards as a social metaphor—“it
takes a long time to develop, and then
it serves lots of unexpected purposes.”
See also: Karl Marx 28–31 ■ Pierre Bourdieu 76–79 ■ Richard Sennett 84–87 ■
Jane Jacobs 108–09 ■ Amitai Etizoni 112–19 ■ Sharon Zukin 128–31
MODERN LIVING
However, by the late 20th century,
the state had taken on many of
these responsibilities and the civic
connections that once unified
people had gone into decline.
The social glue that binds
together individuals and wider
collectives is referred to as “social
capital” by the US sociologist
Robert Putnam, and is reproduced
through voluntary associations
and social and civic networks.
Americans today are wealthier
than in the 1960s, says Putnam,
but at the cost of a shared sense
of moral obligation and community.
Three different types of links
make up this social capital: bonds,
bridges, and linkages. Bonds are
forged from a sense of common
identity, including family, friends,
and community members. Bridges
extend beyond shared identity to
include colleagues, associates, and
acquaintances. Linkages connect
individuals or groups further up
or lower down the social hierarchy.
Differences in the type of social
capital binding people are
important. For example, bonds with
friends and family can help to
secure a job, or provide a source of
comfort at times of emotional need.
But bonds can be restricting, too:
in immigrant communities, bonds
with fellow immigrants can hinder
the formation of social bridges and
linkages, which makes integration
into wider society more difficult.Civic engagement
Putnam’s study Bowling Alone
applies the concept of social capital
to US society. He shows that the
demise of traditional suburban
neighborhoods and the increasing
solitude that commuters and
workers face daily—listening to
iPods, or sitting in front of computer
screens—means that people are not
just far less likely to engage with
voluntary and community-based
initiatives, but also to spend less
time socializing with friends,
neighbors, and family.
Putnam uses ten-pin bowling
to illustrate his point: the number
of Americans taking up the sport
has increased, but the proportion
who join a team is in decline.
People are literally “bowling alone”
because the traditional community
values of trust and reciprocity
have been eroded, which impacts
negatively upon voluntary
associations and civically oriented
organizations, from parent/teacher
associations (PTAs) to local council
committees. Since Putnam set
up the Saguaro Seminar initiative
in 1995 to look into aspects of
civic engagement, his concept of
social capital has become vastly
influential, and has been applied
to a wide range of phenomena
spanning neighborhood quality
of life and crime rates to voting
behavior and church attendance. ■Robert D. Putnam
Robert David Putnam was
born in 1941 in New York,
and raised in the small town
of Clinton, Ohio. With a degree
from the University of Oxford,
UK, and a doctorate from Yale,
he directs the Saguaro
Seminar and is the Malkin
professor of Public Policy at
Harvard University.
In 1995 his article “Bowling
Alone: America’s Declining
Social Capital” began a debate
about civic engagement and
Putnam was invited to meet
with then President Bill
Clinton. Since then, with the
article having become a book
in 2000, his reputation has
grown. In 2013 President
Barack Obama awarded
him the National Humanities
Medal for his contributions
to understanding and trying
to ameliorate community life
in the US.Key works2000 Bowling Alone: The
Collapse and Revival of
American Community
2002 Democracies in Flux
2003 Better Together (with
Lewis M. Feldstein)The core idea of social
capital theory is that
social networks have value.
Robert Putnam