Putnam presents ‘pickle,’ proposes possible path

Putnam presents 'pickle,' proposes possible path

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Salve Regina University had a special presence in its midst on April 15, when Dr. Robert Putnam, renowned political scientist, Harvard professor and author, spoke with a capacity crowd about the state of American democracy today.

Putnam, awarded the National Humanities Medal by President Barack Obama in 2012 and featured in the Netflix documentary "Join or Die," presented a data-driven picture of the collapse and revival of the American community, woven together with personal references, good humor and plain talk.

The event was presented by RENEWport and supported by the Rhode Island Foundation and private donors. It capped a program of talks with Newport students and local nonprofit organizations, and a roundtable with Salve student leaders.

We are, as Putnam said, "In a pickle." In terms of data-driven measures of polarization, inequality, social isolation and cultural self-centeredness, we have more in common with Americans in the pre-Civil War 1850s than the post-World War II 1950s, when community connections and a moral obligation to 'we' vs. 'I' were at their peak. He also pointed out that today it's not race, but class, that is our "biggest point of cleavage."

Focusing on the themes of his 2020 book, "The Upswing: How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do it Again," Putnam proposed a path out of the civic nosedive we're in. Looking at the lessons of the 1860s, he pulled from the data-specific conditions that made a difference then and are repeatable today.

Our earlier civic recovery was driven by paying attention to young people. The start of the Boy Scouts of America, Girl Scouts of the United States of America, 4-H, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and other organizations that connected youth and built a positive moral framework along with fun, helped foster a generation of 'we-focused' youth. Innovations came at the grass roots level, not from the top down. Local communities were the core of the solution.

Most importantly, Putnam said, there was a moral shift. Focusing on the economy, he said, is not going to bring us back together. "We have to believe that we have a moral obligation to each other. And we need to take up the calling."

These words resonated deeply with the Salve audience, reflecting the mercy mission of a university that measures its success by the amount of good its students do in the world.

Following his talk, Putnam stayed for a lively Q&A moderated by Susan Sipprelle, RENEWport founder, co-president and documentary filmmaker. He continued his theme of hope by pointing to signs of activity happening in community foundations around the country, to young leaders like Greta Thunberg who frame the work in moral terms and in the growing attention on breaking up monopolies - all of which mirror points of inflection in our civic comeback of the early part of the century.

Junior Leah Spengler, a political science major and Brodsky Civic LEAD fellow, attended both the student roundtable and featured keynote. "Dr. Putnam inspired us with a lot of ideas on how we can facilitate community building here on Salve's campus and in our American culture," shared Spengler.

Salve's Dr. Mary Anderson, professor of political science and the David and Carolyn Brodsky Chair in U.S. Constitutional Democracy and Culture, reflected, "Twenty-five years ago as a first-year grad student I was inspired to think about how communities foster civic engagement. Last night at Salve, I met the scholar whose research put me on that path, Dr. Robert Putnam."