ABSTRACT In this article, the authors briefly summarize the key elements of Robert Putnam's intriguingly titled book,Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. A scholarlywork on the nature and changesin voluntary associationin Americaover the last several decades,Bowling Alone concludesthat new kinds of voluntary associationare neededin the 21st century to createsocialcapital.Whether the readeragreesor disagreeswith Putnam's analysis,openinga dialogueon new ways of thinking aboutvoluntary associationis instructive to managersof volunteers. What kinds of associationsare needed? Are new toolsfor creating and measuringsocialcapitalrequired?The authorssay "yes" to bothquestionsand offera closeup lookat the work of the awardwinning All Stars Project,which has brokensignificantground in building voluntary association- a "tooland result" activist community.
The Art of Community Building in Light of Robert Putnam's "Bowling Alone" Gail Elberg and Janet Phillips BowlingAlone, subtitled The Collapseand Revival of American Community, is a scholarly work full of insights about the social and cultural habits of Americans in the second half of the twentieth century. In this intriguingly titled book, Robert Putnam asserts that membership in local voluntary associations which burgeoned in the 1940s and 1950s has been in steady decline since the mid-1960s. Contributions of time and energy we once made to local voluntary associations have become instead contributions that are primarily monetary, made to national-scale organizations that act on our behalf. Americans these days, Putnam says, are not enrolling in Parent Teachers Associations (PTAs), not becoming members of unions, not joining professional, sports, or veterans groups, and not subscribing to the activities of organized religion. He accounts for this decline by a variety of societal changes, including more women in the work force, greater residential
instability, fewer marriages, more divorces, lower birth rates, lower real wages, and the technological transformation of leisure (more time spent with TY, VCRs, and computers). Putnam distinguishes between a social being and a member of an organization, and drives home his point with an analysis of the pastime of bow ling. While the number of bowlers has increased, the number of bow ling leagues and membership in them, he says, is in decline. Rather than people belonging to a bowling organization, which brings them together to regularly bowl with the same individuals, they bowl "alone." That is not to say that they bowl by themselves - rather, he says, they bowl with friends, family, or people brought together just for the occasion. The key difference is that they do not join together, act as a group, and have an organization which represents their bowling interests. Voluntary association implies member-
GailElbergis the Director of Volunteer Programs at the award winning All Stars Project, Inc. in NYC which she helped to found thirty years ago. She received a BA in Psychology from Brooklyn College and served in VISTA. Gail was the chief organizer of a 10,000-member welfare rights union and a consultant to non-government funded community-based organizations nationally. Last year the organization won first place in the MONY competition for best volunteer site for working people. She is on the Board of Directors of NY AVAand Co-chairs its Professional Development Committee. JanetPhillipsholds a BA in Economics from Brandeis University and an MA and PhD in anthropology from Cornell University. Over the years, she has worked in the areas of economics, research, community mental health, fundraising, and market research here as well as overseas. Janet Phillips has been an All Stars volunteer for one year, involved in public relations, grant writing, and incentive awards. Prior to this, she volunteered at The Fortune Society in New York, a non-profit community-based organization dedicated to educating the public about criminal justice issues. She is a long-term, less-than-active member of the PTA. THE JOURNAL OF VOLUNTEER ADMINISTRATION Volume 19, Number 3
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