Robert Putnam wants us to stop bowling alone (Harvard Gazette interview)

Robert D. Putnam · 1 Nov 2024

Robert D. Putnam did not write this page.

Every claim below was made in this piece, quoted word for word and numbered in the order the piece makes them, so you can read it there rather than take our word for it. The sentence above each quote is our reading of the claim, not their wording. Each quote was checked against a stored copy of the page at build time; where the two differ, the quote is the fact.

Our reading
What made Italy's regional governments work was informal connection, not education or wealth

Their wordsIt’s not the education; it’s not the wealth. It’s the choral societies and these informal connections.
Our reading
The decline of social capital was real, and later data confirmed it

Their wordsThat’s fundamentally because the ensuing years have shown that I was right. I was saved by the data.
Our reading
Social scientists should try to change things, not only describe them

Their wordssocial scientists should not be focused just on description. They should also be focused on, in some sense, taking a more active role, trying to change.
Our reading
The hopes for turning social-capital research into national solutions were exaggerated

Their wordsIn retrospect, I think our hopes were exaggerated.
Our reading
Big national problems lack grassroots effort, not good ideas

Their wordsfundamentally it’s not an absence of good ideas, it’s an absence of grassroots efforts.

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The other pieces are the ones whose claims are worded most like this one's. That measures language, not agreement: they may argue the opposite.