Salon 9 - Putnam's Bowling Alone

Welcome to The Manhattan Spengler Salon, where we discuss the big ideas of history, historiography, and civilization.

This event will be held on Thursday, November 14th, at 7:00PM at The Chai Spot on Mott Street.

We will be discussing Putnam's article "Bowling Alone" published in 1995 in the Journal of Democracy. Please note that there is a 2000 book of the same name; we will only be reading and discussing the 1995 article.

Please find a link to the article here. Length: 8 pages.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1yAHljazEP3Mthd1ilD7P4paERsWowCJQ/view?usp=drive_link

Questions for the discussion:

1. Examine your own life -- were you ever in civic associations? Were they secondary or tertiary, as Putnam talks about? What outlets do you have now for association?

2. This article was published in 1995. Predict a future for American civic and communal life based on Putnam's observations.

3. How does Putnam define social capital? Is it a viable way to measure for political, social, and economic changes happening in the United States?

4. Of Putnam's explanations for eroding social capital, women in the workforce, mobility, demographic changes, and technology, which do you think is the most viable? What are your own explanations or theories for eroding social capital?

Once again, put on your oculars and let's dive in!