Community building

Better Together: A Civic Nation at Risk Americans have long prided themselves on being exceptionally civic-minded; however, in recent history Americans have started to withdraw from one another. A nation once rich in social capital, is now a nation struggling to return to a former self. A bigger problem at play here, is the fact that most Americans are unaware of their withdrawal from one another. America needs to put an emphasis on the recreation of social capital. America’s long reign as…

Bowling Alone focuses on the decrease in civic engagement of American society and provides detailed examples and data as to why civic engagement such as voter turnout and “secondary association” involvement is decreasing. Putman attributes this decrease to demographic transformations by means of changing from “the corner grocery store” to the supermarket and even to electronic shopping. With a change like this there is less interaction while buying goods at the supermarket to almost no…

Many would say that teens are “the future of tomorrow” where thanks to what they learn, it will impact them and the future of society. It is with that knowledge that, when we see many teenagers on their phone using some kind of social media, we worry for the future of America. A justifiable worry as 95% of teenagers in the United States currently go online and 80% of them partake in some type of social media. (Cookingham and Ryan 2). Teens make up a large portion of the most famous social…

through trust and probably have a long history of favors that were returned throughout the years.A great example of a public social capital is a community block watch program because it…

valued certain characteristics like “solidarity, civic participation, and integrity.” In turn, an emphasis of these values led to a rise in economic productivity. Specifically the northern region of Tuscany has a greater number of “civic communities.” Civic communities are examples of “people participating in voluntary associations” (PCP, 2015). Putnam argues that because cities like Florence, in Tuscany, had a higher number of “guilds, religious fraternities, and tower societies” dating back to…

With the rising popularity of social networking websites such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, an increasing number of people are using these sites as tools for promoting civic engagement and collective action (Gil de Zúñiga, Jung, & Valenzuela, 2012). Recently, scholars have debated whether these are effective in facilitating civic engagement (e.g. Loader, Vromen, & Xenos, 2014), or if they merely encourage widespread slacktivism – a willingness to perform a relatively costless, token display…

Individual social movement participation can be largely understood through transition points – moments in a person’s life when his or her daily routines are drastically and irrevocably changed. Munson (2010) defines transition points as a simultaneous change in an individual’s everyday routines and a change in their social networks. Those who become active in social movements must change their daily routines in order to participate in meetings, protests, and demonstrations. This adjustment is…

Community Means Survival When it comes to survival Leah A. Murray in her article, “When They Aren’t Eating Us, They Bring Us Together: Zombies and the American Social Contract” suggests that individuals that have a community built on a common goal gives these people the best odds of surviving a Posthuman event. The episode “Killer Within” of The Walking Dead shows Rick, Carol, Maggie, Glenn, and Daryl acting individualistic towards members not in their pre-established community in an effort to…

Americans] have withdrawn from the affairs of their communities” (Putnam). As time progresses, Americans care less and less about what is going on in their surroundings. Although Putnam’s piece, “Bowling Alone: America’s Declining Social Capital,” was published 20 years ago, his commentary on minimal social involvement still applies to trends in America today. Many different elements combine to cause a loss of interest by Americans in their communities, which will inevitably lead to…

Human beings have eternally been built for connection. Throughout our time, the growth and demise of different civilizations, we’ve always been apart of a greater group, family, or community that has not allowed us to be lonely singularities. Simultaneously, philosophers have also emphasized to us the importance and value of independent thinking and meaningful solitude. To hold oneself apart from society, is to begin to think one 's way beyond it. In the today that we live in, we tend to beg…