COMMONWEAL

2008-07-09T06:18:00.000-07:00

COMMONWEAL is a laboratory for you to learn more about SOCIAL CAPITAL and community.

Social capital is the glue that holds our society together and over the past half century it has been dissolving. Complete the COMMONWEAL labs below to better understand social capital in your community and to, just maybe, glue parts of it back together.

Be creative. Use whatever resources you have: pen and paper, audio recorder, still digital camera, or video camera to document your response to each lab.

Every time you complete a lab, post it to your blog. When your blog is complete, send me the url to your blog at milnerj@uncsa.edu

Now get busy on the labs below!

Lab #1

2008-07-01T18:19:00.000-07:00

One of the main reasons for declining social capital is suburban sprawl (caused by cars and cheap gas). Sprawl is bad for social capital, the environment, and according to the architect James Howard Kunstler, for our humanity.

According to social capital guru, Robert Putnam, every ten minutes of commute time diminishes social capital by ten percent. Make a video, audio report, or photo essay about sprawl in your community with five solutions you conceive to counteract local sprawl.

Lab #2

2008-06-30T08:02:00.000-07:00

The Amish do not use technology that they believe will weaken their community.

Consider the effect of modern technology on community and society. Imagine what life would be like without individual phones, television sets, and internet technology (you couldn't be reading this!) Live your life without a cell phone for 31 hours straight.

On the COMMENTS link below, post a photograph of your lonely cell phone along with your reactions to escaping from your cell, your ideas about how dependent you are on technology, and a comparison between your time with and without your phone.

Lab #3

2008-01-24T11:04:00.001-08:00

Nietzsche said that, "sin is that which separates us." Media is a complicated thing (it can illuminate, educate, entertain, and it can distract us from important matters), but when considering its overall impact on community, think about whether media (television, internet, radio, newspapers, etc.) tends to bring us together or pull us apart.

Go one week without media. Document your life and record your impressions of what your life was like without media (I know, I know. You will have to use media on a non-media day. Life is full of paradoxes) and post your lab to your blog.

Lab #4

2008-01-24T11:00:00.002-08:00

At the heart of social capital is trust.

Communities, towns, states, and countries that are rich in social capital have high levels of trust. Trust makes the world go round, and specifically it is necessary for economic, political, and social systems to function. At the heart of any healthy community is a high amount of trust. In 1970, 75% of Americans trusted each other. Today, only 30% of Americans say people can be trusted. Does it matter?

Some observers worry that with declining trust in America today it will be hard to work together to solve the vast societal problems we face.

Do you think that most people trust each other?

Go out into the world with a camera, sketch pad, notebook, tape recorder, or video camera and investigate trust. Here are some ideas, but you can approach this in many different ways. You could interview people, survey them about their level of trust, set up an experiment where you “drop” a dollar, scarf, notebook, or something valuable on the floor in a library and see if people return it to you (this might get expensive), or ask people at the mall if you can borrow their cell phone to call home. Whatever you do, investigate trust in your community and report your results.

Lab #5

2008-01-24T10:46:00.000-08:00

In the early 1990s, after hearing a story about "Material Girl" Madonna's latest self-promotional enterprise, photojournalist Peter Menzel had a vision: Rather than take viewers into the mansions of the rich or the "cribs" of MTV celebrities, he wanted to capture the material life of average families around the globe. His resulting book, Material World, offers extraordinary images of families in front of their dwellings with all (or nearly all) of their possessions. Look at some of the pictures from the book and think about how materialism effects community. Consider how the pursuit of individual goods and possessions can effect community good. Take a picture of all of your possessions outside of your residence and your thoughts about the connections between things and friendships and post it on your blog.

Lab #6

2008-01-24T10:45:00.000-08:00

It's good to have friends! In 1985, Americans had, on average, three close friends. A new study finds that today Americans average only two close friends. Consider the reasons for this shift, and the implications of fewer friends on social capital, community, and our society in general. Listen to this NPR story on the decline of friendships in America and read an overview of the study. Consider the reasons for this shift, and the implications of fewer friends on social capital and community. and then turn your eye on friendships in your life and in society. Document the effect of social media on your friendships and post it on your blog.

Lab #7

2008-01-20T17:47:00.000-08:00

How we vacation says a lot about our values, community, and how we live our lives.
Create a video or photographic documentary about American vacations.
Here are some facts to inform you work.

The average American takes 13 days of vacation a year.
The U.S. remains the only industrialized country in the world that has no legally mandated annual leave.
88 percent of Americans carry electronic devices while on vacation to communicate with work, and 40 percent log-on to check their work email.
A third of all Americans don't take their allotted vacation and 37 percent never take more than a week at a time.
In the US, a third of all women and a quarter of all men receive no paid vacation.

Italy 42 days
France 37 days
Germany 35 days
Brazil 34 days
United Kingdom 28 days
Canada 26 days
Korea 25 days
Japan 25 days
U.S. 13 days

Where would you rather live?

Integrate these facts with interviews, photos, and images to create a vacation investigation that you post on your blog.

Lab #8

2008-01-20T17:46:00.000-08:00

Over the past half century, political involvement has declined precipitously. Voting, political party membership, community organizing, attending public meetings, and almost every other indicator of political participation have declined dramatically.
Let's build some social capital through direct political participation. Get a permit and organize a political protest, rally, march, sit in, or other public event in your community. Your political event could be about the war in Iraq, a political candidate, abortion, the death penalty, your distaste for spinach, or any other strongly held belief. Document your event and analyze it.

Lab #9

2008-01-20T17:44:00.001-08:00

Newspapers are a great social connector in community life. Newspapers inform us, connect us, and enlighten us. Fewer and fewer Americans are reading the newspaper (in print or on line), and more and more newspapers are folding. Think about how your local paper builds social capital and community. Write a letter to the editor of your local paper. Post your published letter or a link to it.

Lab#10

2008-01-18T09:26:00.001-08:00

The importance we place on voting says a lot about how much we value the common space politics inhabits. So how much do people value the sacred right to vote that people fought and died for? Let's find out. Get a few pieces of poster board, a big magic marker, go find some people (they often can be found at the mall, Wal-Mart, or Mickey Ds) and poll at least ten of them on the following question: How much would you sell your permanent right to vote for? Do not pay them! Photograph the vote sellers holding a poster with the monetary amount they think their vote is worth and then record them explaining their statement. Write or record yourself talking about what this tells you about how much we value of democracy. Post all the comments and the photographs on your blog.

Lab#11

2008-01-18T09:23:00.000-08:00

When I exit the highway in Lincoln, Nebraska, Bangor, Maine, or Columbia, South Carolina, I see the same gas stations, restaurants, and stores. The standardization and homogenization of the American cultural landscape erases much individual identity and community. Think about how national chains have effected your community and social capital. Undertake a study of a local business and a national (chain) business: restaurants, stores, coffee shops, etc. Investigate the differences in the two businesses (interviews, photographs, video), paying special attention to the effects of national and international businesses on your community.

Lab #12

2008-01-18T00:05:00.000-08:00

There has been a lot of interesting research on the effects of social networking sites like Facebook on social capital. After your read the report, consider the effect of social networking sites like Facebook and My Space on social capital and community, and on your own life.

Lab #13

2008-01-17T19:41:00.000-08:00

And now, back to cars! Cars are great: they let us drive fast, feel free, impress our friends, but they also have horrible environmental impacts: they allow for sprawl, tend to break apart communities, and disconnect us from our neighbors. What would it be like to live in a community without motorized transportation?

Here's where you come in. Document a typical motorized day in your life (using a car, truck, bus, etc), then document a contrasting day in your life where you eschew all cars, motorcycles, busses, and any form of mechanized transport. As you go about your day (or don't) consider how modern transportation changes your interaction with people and your community.

Does speed kill community?

Record your voyages and post your commentary and recordings.

Lab #14

2008-01-17T10:20:00.001-08:00

Even when we build social capital, it is often with people just like us (same race, ethnicity, socio-economic standing, age, and background). making connections with people like us is called bonding social capital, and it's good. When we connect and network with people different from us, it's called bridging social capital, and it's even better. Let's build some bridges. Interview a person different from you (age, ability/disability, race, religion, country of origin). Your interview should be at least 5 minutes long. Ask this person who is different from you any questions you wish. Record your interview (in writing, audio, video, still photograph) and post it.

Lab #15

2008-01-15T17:57:00.000-08:00

In his book, Bowling Alone, Robert Putnam reaches the conclusion that American social capital is rapidly declining. Document the level of social capital in your community and evaluate whether Putnam's thesis about the United States holds true for your community. This is a very open ended lab, and is a chance for you to be really creative. You could interview people, photograph public places, go door to door and see if people can name their neighbors, interview the mayor, investigate levels of volunteerism or voter turnout in your community. Post your social capital documentary.

Lab #16

2008-01-11T11:27:00.001-08:00

The 2008 presidential election notwithstanding, by international standards, people in the US vote at very low rates.

Unfortunately, voting is just another example of weak political participation in the US. ponder the connection between trust and voting. Consider the effect of voter apathy on a political system and a local community, and imagine what a country would be like with super high political engagement and involvement. What can you do about it? Go to your county board of elections. Get at least 47 voter registration forms. Get a table, some pens, a few chairs, go to a public place in your community, set up, and register people to vote. Record people registering to vote (or declining to register) and share your thoughts about political participation in your community.

Lab #17

2008-01-11T10:58:00.000-08:00

The Day of Silence is an annual event held to bring attention to bullying, harassment and discrimination in schools. Students and teachers nationwide observe the day in silence to echo the silence that LGBT students face everyday. The Day of Silence is one of the largest student-led actions in the country.
Pick a cause you believe in and create your own event or action in your community to raise awareness and support for your cause. Document your work and people's reaction to your event.

Lab #18

2008-01-03T13:10:00.000-08:00

As we've learned, most people are not terribly engaged in the civic world. What would your community look like if people were really connected and engaged with others? Could you spur other people to be more politically involved? Could a message written in public spur people to think more about community and politics? Use chalk to tag a public place like a sidewalk, street, or park bench with a political message (make sure it can be erased by natural elements). Take a photograph or video of your tag and post it on the COMMENTS link below. As a bonus, leave some chalk at your tag site and record what people chalk back.

Here's a beautiful tag from some Commonwealers. WARNING! They used paint, but it was in a school sanctioned graffiti zone (lucky ducks) so don't get in trouble by using paint in a non-graffiti sanctioned space.

Lab #19

2008-01-01T07:37:00.000-08:00

Some forms of transportation put all sorts of different people together, others put us in our own little separate bubbles. Use only public transportation and travel around your community for a few hours. On the COMMENTS link below, post a written account, pictures or video of your journey, along with commentary about how your community would change if more people used public transportation.

Lab #20

2002-12-08T19:18:00.000-08:00

Family is the ultimate generator of social capital. Yet, today, half of American marriages end in divorce, the size of the average American family has fallen to 2.6 people (two parents and a midget?), and the time families spend together is waning. Document a family (not necessarily yours), its connection to community and social capital, and post your discoveries.

Lab #21

1997-12-09T17:53:00.000-08:00

So much social capital, so little time. Now that we've learned all about social capital it's time to get creative. Yes, creative.

Create a rap, musical composition, poem, cartoon, video, graphic novel, dance, puppet show, zine, movement, skit, piece of visual art, song, or some creative expression of social capital.

Chock your composition full of truth, information, creativity, and originality.

Lab #22

1997-10-08T09:49:00.000-07:00

STUFF

We all have a lot of stuff.

What does the accumulation of stuff do to our accumulation of connections, to our social capital?

Let's do a little experiment and find out.

The six items or less project is a world-wide lab to investigate the effect of owning only six different clothes. Join the hundreds of others who are taking part in the experiment, document your work, analyze the connection between stuff and social capital, and post it!

Lab # 23

1997-10-05T09:55:00.000-07:00

Speaking of stuff. What about the non-clothes stuff we have.

Here is the 100 Thing Challenge by a guy named Dave who has only 100 total possessions.

Join in with his challenge, document your work, analyze the connection between possessions and social capital, and post it!

Lab #24

1995-01-16T10:15:00.000-08:00

Now that you’ve learned about social capital, your community, and how you fit into it, do something about it.

The Do Something Award gives grants to young people who take action in their community.

Fill out a project proposal for the Do Something Award and post a copy of your proposal. Good luck getting the award!