“We remain, in short, reasonably well-informed spectators of public affairs, but many fewer of us actually partake in the game.”

Feeling a bit sick? Moving to a high social capital state may be as good for your health as quitting smoking. Most of us think of the benefits of social capital as coordinating the group to solve collective action problems and reinforcing democracy. More subtly, however, it also brings psychological benefits, encouraging tolerance and empathy and reducing stress, depression, and illness. Social capital smooths the path of modern society. Though we may not require saints for society to operate, we do require a minimum willingness to serve the group and resist taking advantage of everyone else.

As we have seen in the first half of the review of Bowling Alone, social capital has fallen dramatically in the United States, in terms of poker games, picnics, community societies and pretty much all other civic activities. Putnam turns to why this is a problem and how it can be resolved.

Putnam compares our age to the Gilded Age, in the early 1900s, with inequalities in wealth, class, and race exacerbated by concerns over the fracturing of communities and the centralization of corporate power. The question then and now was how to “reform institutions and adapt our habits in this new world to secure the enduring values of tradition,” and the Gilded Age preceded an enormous surge in social capital. The loss of social capital is not inevitable, and it can be reversed.

To rebuild social capital we require both supply and demand for communities.  We must create a supply of civic activities by establishing clubs, societies, and groups that allow individuals to interact with each other, while also creating demand for such activities through education and other means. In other words, we require both individual change and institutional change.

Bowling Alone covers a fundamental idea, and does so exhaustively. At times, this can be a bit much: he would make a claim, I would agree, and then thirty pages of supporting statistics followed regardless. It can also feel a bit dated; though published in 2000, it is his bad luck that the leaps and bounds in technology since then mean his discussion of the internet and mobility feel the need for an update. For someone seeking insight into communities, however, the book is a must read, both because you will see it cited in any modern work on a related subject, and because it introduces ideas that remain a major concern today, and deals with them thoroughly.

You can read Bowling Alone here (or in the UK or Canada). Or, just join the Subtle Illumination email list to your right and do your part to restore social capital!