Social Capital Theory

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses Robert Putnam's book "Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of the American Community," in which he tracked the changes in the social fabric of the United States during the second half of the twentieth century. The paper discusses Putnam's hypotheses regarding the collapse of community life in the U.S. and its dire ramifications for society.

From the Paper:

"What does all of this tell us about the validity of the Social Capital theory? The numbers alone are astounding proof of the idea that Bridging social bonds are decaying. Also, the rampant consumption of television rather than human company for comfort shows us a good deal about the collective stress imposed by this lack of cohesion. Americans, no longer having a common goal, no longer have anything in common with one another, and are too harried to try to forge new commonality. The fight for resources and moral superiority between regions in this country has degenerated to the point that there is extreme polarization between left and right political factions. Strong tides of Nationalism threaten to exclude rather than include large numbers of Americans who do not fit a specific mold--one of the major reasons for the initial breaking away from community life among Boomers. This is endemic of an imbalance between a severe lack of Bridging Social Capital and growing amounts of very fragmented Bonding Social Capital."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bourdieu, P. (n/d). Social Capital. Retrieved March 27, 2006, from website:http://www.freedictionary.com/socialcapital.html
• Checkoway, B.(2001). Six Strategies of Community Change.(pp. 115-123) Boston:Hawthorne.
• Putnam, Robert.(2000). Bowling Alone. New York: Simon and Schuster.
• Rotheberg, R. (2001).Patterns of Social Capital. New York: Cambridge University Press.
• Sabatini, F. retrieved March 27, 2006 from: http.//.www.socialcapitalgateway.org.

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