By Claire Woodward
Twenty-five years ago, Robert Putnam detailed the decline of civic engagement over the latter half of the twentieth century in his iconic book Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community (2000). Putnam uses the example of bowling leagues to illustrate how Americans have become increasingly disconnected from family, friends, neighbors, and democratic structures. People are still bowling, but instead of bowling in leagues, they are more often bowling “alone” — occasional one-off outings with small groups of friends instead of recurring contests with other teams in a league. This trend of declining community engagement has occurred across other communal activities as well—even less formal ones like book clubs, poker nights, and dinner groups.
Putnam argues that social capital—the benefits from our social networks, shared norms, and social trust—has significantly declined. In Bowling Alone, Putnam provides extensive data showing decreases in various forms of civic engagement, such as voting, attending public meetings, and participating in community organizations (from PTO meetings to bridge groups). Such declines have led to negative impacts on both individual well-being and societal health. Putnam identifies several factors contributing to this decline, including increased work hours, suburbanization, television, and generational changes. He suggests ways to rebuild social capital, such as encouraging community involvement, fostering civic education, and creating policies that support family and community life.
Our research in The Observing Civic Engagement Lab contributes to discussion around community life. Rather than focusing on its decline though, we are interested in what is happening when people do come together. We observe hobby organizations like book clubs, card groups, dinner clubs, service organizations like Kiwanis and Habitat for Humanity, and religious congregations. Community life is still happening, even if it might occur at a lower rate than it did in the 1970s.
We hosted a team social for our research assistants at our university campus’s bowling alley last weekend. I haven’t been bowling in perhaps 15 years, but I immediately fell into a familiar cadence of talking with people in between the individual bowling frames. None of us were serious bowlers (I think our top scorer was around 115), but we enjoyed bowling together as a way to connect and strengthen community. We weren’t there to bowl alone but rather participate in Putnam’s iconic symbol of community life. But, of course… we weren’t there for league play. Perhaps we should consider finding other groups to bowl with us next time.
The work that we do about what happens when community comes together has important implications for our society. Although ample research such as Putnam’s has discussed how civic life has changed over the past several decades, our work is novel in exploring the details of ongoing community organization life.
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