[Robert] Putnam has spent much of his academic life as America\u2019s chief chronicler of declining social institutions \u201d\u201d a dour task, cheerfully performed. In the 1990s, he began drawing together the disparate evidence of declining attendance at bowling leagues, church services and Moose lodges. His data points included the falloff in yearly picnic attendance and a rise in the incidence of drivers giving each other the finger.<\/p>\n
It was the composite image of one of the most powerful forces of modernity: a rising individualism that \u201cliberates\u201d\u009d people from social commitments that make their lives orderly and pleasant.<\/p>\n
Even worse, the extent of this trend is not distributed equally in society. Putnam\u2019s recent work \u201d\u201d to be summarized in a forthcoming book called \u201cOur Kids\u201d\u009d \u201d\u201d focuses on how the consequences of institutional decline are felt disproportionately among the working class, leaving vast numbers of youths disconnected from the promise of American life.<\/p>\n