Sep 16, 2022
Ever since Robert Putnam's seminal Bowling Alone was published in 2000, "social capital" has been identified as the missing ingredient in addressing many key national challenges. But the forces that bind communities together also come with costs. Eff...
The declining economic necessity and social durability of community institutions has driven the rise of political identities as sources of definition for both individual and group identity. This cycle is self-perpetuating: As local institutions lose their relevance, national groups increasingly become rigid, large-scale providers of identity, fueling a nationalization and "lifestylization" of political debates that contributes to the decline in the relevance of local communities.