Bowling Alone
Also known as Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community
Robert D. Putnam's 2000 book on the decline of American community and social capital.
At a glance
Key ideas
Chequebook membership, Bonding and bridging, What caused it …
See all 4Reception
Praise, Everett Carll Ladd, Nicholas Lemann
See all 3Connections
Also on this page: Key facts · Links · Sources · Related pages
- Putnam documents a decline since about 1950 in Americans' in-person civic and social life: voting, meetings, clubs, unions, churches and volunteering.
- More Americans were bowling, but fewer bowled in leagues.
- He argues this loss of social capital undermines the civic engagement a democracy needs.
- He blames above all generational change and television, and ends by asking how the trend could be reversed.
Why it matters
- It named the problem of American disconnection that later debates about loneliness keep returning to.
Key facts
- Author
- Robert D. Putnam1
- Published
- 2000, Simon & Schuster1
- Grew from
- His 1995 essay "Bowling Alone: America's Declining Social Capital" in the Journal of Democracy1
Key ideas
-
Chequebook membership1
Groups that grew, such as AARP and the Sierra Club, rarely brought members face to face.
-
Bonding and bridging1
Social capital within a group, and across groups.
-
What caused it1
He estimated about half was generational change, a quarter electronic entertainment, and a tenth each work pressure and suburban sprawl.
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Not moving house1
Americans moved less often than before, so mobility does not explain the decline.
Reception
-
Praise1
The Economist called it "a prodigious achievement"; Kirkus praised it as exhaustive and carefully argued.
-
Everett Carll Ladd1
Said it ignored studies such as Middletown, which raised the same fears about radio in the 1920s.
-
Nicholas Lemann1
Argued civic life had changed form, with youth soccer leagues growing as bowling leagues shrank.
Connections
Written by
Links
Sources
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