Social Justice And The Politics Of Community

Abstract

In his influential treatise on the state of community in the United States, Robert Putnam (2000) warns readers about a treacherous enemy in our midst: For the first two-thirds of the twentieth century a powerful tide bore Americans into even deeper engagement in the life of their communities, but a few decades ago - silently, without warning - that tide reversed and we were overtaken by a treacherous rip current. Without at first noticing, we have been pulled apart from one another and from our communities over the last third of the century. (Putnam, 2000, p.27) Encountering this kind of rhetoric used by Putnam, readers might be wondering what the ‘treacherous’ enemy force is that has so ‘pulled us apart’. Is it a pandemic disease, a fifth-column attack or an alien invasion that threatens our very existence? Fortunately, Putnam’s treacherous force is more mundane: social activism, libertarianism, social justice campaigns, and the desire for more inclusive communities based on a respect for human rights and cultural diversity. These cultural currents emanated from the new social movements in the 1960s. They shaped the mind set of the generation of Baby Boomers, largely held responsible by Putnam for community’s decline.