Bowling Together, Bowling Alone
When Robert Putnam’s Bowling Alone was released in 2000, it took the academic and civic world by storm. Putnam’s thesis is, in short, that as bowling leagues go, so goes society. Bowling leagues have decreased over the years, a trend which is associated with simultaneous declines in civic participation, social capital, and so on.
Now Jason Kaufman has a retort.
For the Common Good? American Civic Life and the Golden Age of Fraternity argues that, contrary to Putnam’s assertions, the decline of some types of civic organizations—fraternal clubs in particular—is actually a good thing. Fraternal organizations were divisive; their decline indicates that Americans are becoming more equal and less desirous of exclusive clubs to “protect” themselves from others. Kaufman’s proposal sounds far from bullet-proof, but I’m intrigued enough to pick up his book from the library. (It doesn’t appear Lincoln’s libraries have a copy yet.)
I’ll keep you posted.
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