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Part
4, Section
Three: The Conversion of Social Capital
How much has our technology and the need
for perpetual economic growth detracted from our relationships of trust
and reciprocity with others? Robert Putnam as carefully documented
the decline of social capital in the United States over the past five
decades. There is also much to suggest that the three major
technological revolutions of the past fifty years--the automobile and the
patterns of living it has created, the television, and the computer--have
been instrumental in both our level of capital accumulation and in the
decline of social capital. These readings document these patterns of
change.
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| Reading
1a Social
Capital |
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In this article by Carmen Sirianni and Lewis Friedland the concept of social capital is defined. It was most elaborated by Robert Putnam in his book Bowling Alone in which he details its decline in the United States. Putnam's articles and books have made the phrase "social capital" a common one, as he has provided documentation on the decline of social capital in the United States over the past half century. It is worth noting that in his articles and book, he cites television and urban sprawl (made possible by the automobile) as two of the main reasons for social capital decline. You can follow-up on this article by reading Putnam's article from The American Prospect, The Strange Disappearance of Civic America. |
| Reading
1b. Robert
Putnam: The Strange Disappearance of Civic America |
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One of the major
articles examining the decline of social capital in America. The
article provides a summary of Putnam's book, Bowling Alone, that provides
a compendium of information documenting the decline of civil
society. In the article, Putnam singles out television as one of the
main culprits, although he does mention others in his book. Putnam
does not directly implicate economic growth and the extent to which
television technology contributes to that growth through the increase of
consumer spending, but the implication is there. There is more on
that in other articles below.
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Reading 2 Technology, Globalization and
Traditional Society
a) Helena
Norberg-Hodge & Steven Gorelick (The Ecologist) - Social costs of
globalization
b) Helena
Norberg-Hodge - Appropriate technology and cooperative culture in Ladakh
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These two articles,
the first by Helena Norberg-Hodge and Steven Gorelick examine first
the state of children in the U.S. and the likely effects of the
exportation of capitalist cultural values to other countries; , it
concludes that "America's children are among the first victims of a
culture shaped by commercial interests and media moguls, and an increasing
number of Americans are waking up to this fact. There is a growing trend
towards turning the television off, towards consciously seeking nature and
community instead. These are incredibly important and hopeful signs."
The second provides a comparative perspective on the impact of technology
on a traditional society.
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| Reading
3. Hank
Dittmar (Enough!) - Road to nowhere: the automobile, sprawl, and the illusory
suburban dream | More |
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The automobile,
arguably, did more to transform American life than any single
technology. In this article, Hank Dittmar examines how the the
automobile has transformed the space in which we live, and how, as a
consequence, it has changed the way we deal with each other.
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Reading 4. On Television
a) Jerry
Mander (Lapis) - The tyranny of television: why we must urgently debate
megatechnology
b) Jerry
Mander - Technology as ideology: four arguments for the elimination of
television
c) Who Benefits Most by
Jerry Mander |
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These three
articles by Jerry Mander examine both the history and development of
television in our lives and the change that it has produced in our
lives. he also examines how television serves to enhance the
centralization of global power and provides some arguments why television
should be eliminated. Combined with Robert Putnam's association of
television with the declines of social capital, it represents a damning
indictment.
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Reading 5. The Computer and the
Internet
a) Sherry
Turkle (American Prospect) - Searching for community in cyberspace
b) Robert
Kraut et al. (American Psychologist) - Internet paradox: a social
technology that reduces social involvement and psychological well-being? |
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These articles by
Sherry Turkle and Robert Kraut and others document the extent to which the
computer is affecting social involvement with others. Turkle, in her
book, Life on the Screen, examines how people are trying to
reconstruct lost neighborhoods and communities, and ends up exploring the
meaning of people imbedding themselves in virtual worlds, while escaping
from "real" ones. The
computer has brought great financial benefits to many. But has it
come at the cost of social capital? This article by Robert Kraut and
Vicki Lundmark summarizes their research into that questions, and they
conclude:"Greater use of the Internet was associated
with small, but statistically significant declines in social involvement
as measured by communication within the family and the size of people's
local social networks, and with increases in loneliness, a psychological
state associated with social involvement. Greater use of the Internet was
also associated with increases in depression. Other effects on the size of
the distant social circle, social support, and stress did not reach
standard significance levels but were consistently negative."
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