Latest news with #RobertPutnam
Yahoo
07-07-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Silver Linings: ‘Let's do lunch?'
My wife likes to say that 'Food is Love.' She has it cross-stitched and placed on a wall between the dining room and kitchen to ensure it is visible and not forgotten. More than just actually eating or preparing a meal, she likes entertaining - having others over while sitting around talking after sharing a meal. She used to volunteer frequently for church and community potluck dinners, but we don't seem to have them as much anymore. Some may even see visiting in the hall as a distraction from the main reason for going to church. More and more people attending community groups likewise seem to prefer to have a meeting, conduct business, and leave immediately once the meeting ends. No time to linger. Get things done and move on. Some years ago, Harvard professor Robert D. Putnam wrote a groundbreaking book entitled Bowling Alone about the decline of social interaction in America, about our tendency to want more 'me time' and less 'we time.' Putnam writes convincingly that we have, in fact, seen a significant decline in 'social capital.' He provides mounds of data showing that we spend a lot more time alone than we used to, and it shows up in decreasing voting rates, plummeting volunteering rates, and less time mingling, entertaining, or having others over to the house. More and more have 'She sheds' and 'Man caves' where they can be alone. And many trust each other less and keep their distance from neighbors. By contrast, in The Greatest Generation journalist Tom Brokaw describes how the generation of Americans who came of age in the 1940's was better at getting together for community picnics and church socials than any generational group that preceded or followed them. These people had learned from experience how to cooperate, do things together, and root for each other; they succeeded not only in transforming American society but also safeguarding democracy, Brokaw writes. Yet, we are social beings if we are anything. And sharing meals together encourages a sense of belonging. A 2017 UK study showed that eating with others provides both social and individual benefits. Those who eat socially more often feel happier and are more satisfied with life, are more trusting of others, are more engaged with their local communities, and have more friends they can depend on for support. Eating together involves more laughter and reminiscing, more bonding and less detachment and alienation. Utah community leader and former Utah Tech University Trustee Julie Beck is convinced that the best way to connect either with grandchildren or others is to go to lunch together. 'It is disarming,' she says. 'Friends, colleagues, neighbors, and family members let their guard down and get real when eating together. My husband jokes that he is going to put 'Let's do lunch,' on my tombstone because I go to lunch so often with others. But I am convinced that real conversations over lunch are more effective than any other option.' The informal atmosphere of lunch allows for a more relaxed and less pressured environment for having conversations, encouraging genuine expressions of each other's thoughts and feelings. Sharing a meal creates a common ground and a sense of togetherness, making it easier to connect and bond. Food itself can become a lighter topic of conversation, allowing you to focus on something outside of typical concerns or issues and later find common ground. Thomas Jefferson himself used to invite disagreeing associates over for dinner, with encouragement to steer conversation towards unifying ideals and away from divisive issues. Casual conversations over lunch can help build rapport and trust, making it easier to discuss more personal or sensitive topics in the future. 'I've been going to lunch regularly with the same group of high school friends for more than 40 years,' Mary Matheson says. 'They know me so well that some things don't really require much explanation. We can talk in 'shorthand.'' Keith Murdoch agrees. 'I hang out with the same 4-5 guys that I knew in high school. We're all retired, and we may go to sports games together, but we always go eat before or after any event. That's where we talk. That's when the good stuff comes out.' Whether you are using a meal like this to unload emotional baggage or update each other on recent successes, these shared conversations over lunch help offload our burdens and reduce the daily stressors that are constantly nipping at our heels. There's something about the act of sharing food that deepens our relationships. It's no wonder that studies show families who eat together regularly tend to have stronger bonds. Dinner parties can stimulate this same togetherness among casual acquaintances. We host a block party each October and invite the 30 households in our neighborhood to a backyard barbeque. We supply hamburgers and hot dogs while asking our neighbors to bring a favorite family dessert or salad. The backyard table gets filled with everything from shredded green Jello salad to Indian naan. As we eat, we talk about each other's families, cultures, and personal histories. By the end of the night, what began as a group of acquaintances fast becomes a group of friends. There is a certain intimacy that goes with having neighbors over for dinner—even if it's in the backyard. Such home hospitality invites others into our lives in a way that going out to eat can't replicate. It's an expression of trust, not only an opportunity for shared entertainment. Such dinner parties can create the kind of connection that the 'greatest generation' intuitively understood and exemplified. There's a time and place for 'doing lunch' - just as there is 'having others over for dinner.' An informal setting, a shared experience, a chance to break bread together may seem like a lost art. But with a little encouragement and a few tips, it can be revived. The benefits for all of us are enormous.
The Guardian
21-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
The Guardian view on social cohesion: too many of us are still ‘bowling alone'
Thirty years after writing Bowling Alone, the famous essay in which he diagnosed a dangerous crisis of social cohesion in the United States, Robert Putnam has a right to feel vindicated. In a lecture this spring, Prof Putnam, now 84, warned his audience that, amid levels of polarisation and distrust higher than at any time since the civil war, the US was 'in danger of going to hell in a handcart'. Britain is still, thankfully, a long way from the poisonous toxicity of Trump-era America, notwithstanding the ominous rise of Reform and Nigel Farage. But research published this week by the More in Common polling group paints a worrying portrait of communities in which there is a widespread sense of social disconnection, high levels of distrust among the young and a felt loss of shared spaces and rituals. Alarmed by the progress of Reform in 'red wall' seats that it won back in the last election, Labour has chosen primarily to view the problem of social cohesion through the narrow lens of immigration. But the report's authors suggest a far wider set of factors is at play, from the remote-working legacy of the pandemic to the paradoxically isolating effects of social media, which leave us too often alone with a phone. Significantly, given Reform's success in the most deprived parts of England and Wales, they also identify a class dimension to the weakening of communal ties and diminishing levels of social trust. According to More in Common's director, Luke Tryl, 'a pernicious graduate gap appears to be opening up, with those who have degrees generally feeling more connected and optimistic than those who don't.' The decline in associational life has been decades in the making. Far fewer of us now go to church, are members of a union or join social clubs. Political parties, once embedded in the life of communities, have become more detached from them and less representative of their varied social makeup. Deindustrialisation, and the cultural shifts of the Thatcher/Reagan era in the 1980s, inaugurated a more individualist age. The savage austerity inflicted by George Osborne in the 2010s degraded the public realm, closing leisure centres, libraries, youth clubs and arts centres. Inevitably, the loss of free or cheap social spaces hit the less well off hardest. According to Prof Putnam, this was the kind of context that helped deliver Donald Trump in the United States, as a swath of the population lost faith in the social contract and became 'vulnerable to authoritarian populist appeals'. There have been warning signals in Britain too. The riots and disorder last summer, in the aftermath of the appalling murder of three young girls in Southport, took place in some of the most deprived areas of the country. Together with Citizens UK and UCL academics led by Ed Miliband's former speechwriter, Marc Stears, More in Common is launching a joint research project dedicated to finding ways to strengthen our fraying social bonds. Labour should pay close attention to its work. Thus far, the government's programme of national renewal has focused overwhelmingly on the need to stimulate economic growth, within the unnecessarily constricting confines of its fiscal rules. But fostering the connections that bind people together in our towns and cities should be an equal priority. That will take social imagination and some hard thinking about the way we live now. Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Join or Die: Documentary highlights the value of civic and community engagement
SHREVEPORT, La. (KTAL/KMSS) — 'Join or Die' invites you to explore why joining a club is more important than ever and why the country's fate may depend on it. On Tuesday, April 8, the Institute for Nonprofit Administration and Research (INAR) invites the public to LSU-Shreveport and watch author of Bowling Alone and social scientist Robert Putnam explore: What makes democracy work? Why is American democracy in crisis? And, most importantly… What can we do about it? 'Research shows that those who are involved in civic and community participation, clubs, churches, and nonprofits actually live longer,' said INAR Executive Director Dr. Heather Carpenter. 'We know we have a lot of strengths here in our community. We want to really change the narrative and have that discussion around how we can make things more positive for everyone.' The Shreveport-Bossier area is home to over 2000 nonprofit organizations with various missions and causes they support. 'This isn't just going to fix itself,' said YMCA of Northwest Louisiana's Director of Marketing and Development Jeffrey Goodman. 'Anything you see that you're not happy about in your community, you need to step in there and do something about it.' LSU-Shreveport art exhibit celebrates female artists, nature The screening will be followed by a panel discussion and Q&A session open to audience questions and feedback. The panelists include: Tim Magner, President, Shreveport Chamber of Commerce Clay Walker, Assistant Parish Administrator, Caddo Parish Dr. Laura Meiki, Sociology Professor, LSUS Wendell Riley, Executive Director, Robinson Film Center 'This is going to be a powerhouse room,' Goodman says. He added that people should attend the event 'if you want to get some new friends or network with some people who are really out there doing things and part of the change. I promise you those are all people you'll want to join forces with.' Carpenter wants those in the community to be aware of the various opportunities for participation to enhance social and emotional well-being, as well as reduce crime and improve the city of Shreveport as a whole. Her mission and passion is to help nonprofit organizations run more effectively and share the economic and social value that they bring to the community. 'I don't think folks realize how much nonprofits are a part of our daily lives,' Carpenter said. 'Everything from the arts to healthcare, education, animal-related nonprofits, and human services. They're on the frontlines of every disaster.' Grow food and save money with ReForm Shreveport's urban homesteading workshop The documentary examines the research of social scientist Robert Putnam, who explores the decline in community participation in the United States throughout the years. 'Back in the 60s, people came together based on their clubs that they were in,' Carpenter said. 'It was all different walks of life, socioeconomics, male and female, religions. They were able to have civil discourse and conversations, and we don't have that anymore. We want to bring our community together to have that participation in social and community beautification.' Goodman encourages community members to attend the screening, calling it one of the most important events people will attend all year. Tickets can be purchased at or by calling the RFC box office at 318-459-4125. 'The big shift that I would like to see in the community is the shift from 'me' to 'we,' and turning the lens from your narcissistic everyday life to the greater good,' Goodman said. 'The easiest, most logical way that takes place is when people say 'We're better collaborating. What do you do well, and how can I take that and combine it with what I do well so that the end result is better than what either of us were doing on our own?'' The screening will be held on Tuesday, April 8, at 6:30 p.m. at the Robinson Film Center, 617 Texas Street in downtown Shreveport. Those interested in getting involved in their communities should visit or email INAR@ Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
