Social capital by numbers

23 December 2010Ian McShane reviews Andrew Leigh’s book about social capital in Australia, Disconnected, in Inside Story

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ANDREW LEIGH’s Disconnected is a brisk analysis of social capital in Australia. As the title suggests, his concern is the erosion of social bonds and civic life in Australia in recent decades. Disconnected sets out his evidence for this claim and offers some ideas for rebuilding “the community and camaraderie of the past.” Leigh worked with Harvard University’s Robert Putnam, of Bowling Alone fame, and the conceptual and methodological influences of Putnam’s project – Leigh calls it a “research machine” – are evident…

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