Attending the The RSA Patron’s Lecture by Robert D. Putnam on hashtag#SocialCapital

Note: This Post origianlly publihsed on my LinkedIn

#EventNote Attending the The RSA (The royal society for arts, manufactures and commerce) Patron’s Lecture by Robert D. Putnam on hashtag#SocialCapital Years ago, I came across Professor Putnam’s book Bowling Alone and became fascinated with the idea of social capital. So when I heard he was coming to London to give a talk at the RSA, I was beyond excited—I rushed to the bookshop and grabbed a physical copy of his recent book, The Upswing, hoping to get it signed.

However, who would have thought Heathrow Airport would close, disrupting his travel plans and forcing him to give the talk remotely? Nevertheless, his keynote was fascinating and thought-provoking.

The key takeaway was the surprising pattern of an “inverse U-shape” that characterizes America in four crucial aspects—economics, politics, society, and culture—over the past century and a quarter (1890–2020). Through rigorous, innovative data analysis and an interdisciplinary macrohistorical approach, Professor Putnam tells a captivating, alarming, yet hopeful story about America’s social dynamics. While we’re all familiar with the Left-Right political spectrum, the talk highlighted a less discussed “I-We” spectrum, spanning individualism to communitarianism, which drives this inverse-U trajectory. Aptly, Putnam descriptively names this the “I-We-I century.” This “we” concept naturally led to the core theme of the evening: social capital.

Following the brilliant keynote, the evening featured a panel of exceptional speakers: Sarah Hemminger, co-founder and CEO of Thread, deeply moved me with the compelling story of Eileen and Alice—a narrative too powerful for a brief summary here, so I highly recommend hearing it directly (timestamp: 1:04:30).

Marnie Freeman FRSA, co-founder and director of Neighbourly Lab, shared insightful remarks on trying to observe and study social infrastructure, particularly the challenge of measuring something “not there.”

Sir Nick Clegg, President of Global Affairs at Meta, observed on how, compared with Silicon Vally, UK has “sort of fallen out of love with the future,” emphasizing the importance of fostering an environment where people are excited to shape the future.

In addition to the discussion, tonight also marked the premiere of the Revealing Social Capital research programme—a UK replication of the U.S. Facebook Social Connection study. Interesting points stood out to me: friendships in the UK are less stratified compared to those in the U.S., and hobby groups are surprisingly effective at promoting cross-class friendships.

Finally, thanks to the host Andy Haldane and the entire hashtag#RSA team for making this insightful event possible.

PS: My small disappointment at missing the opportunity for a signed book was replaced by a much bigger pleasant surprise: HRH Princess Anne made an appearance to deliver the opening remarks. Having watched her on television during the Coronation, seeing her in person—just three rows ahead of me—felt surreal.

Links bolow👇

🎥 Full Recording: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hd7yj4QP_48 📊 Report Social capital in the United Kingdom: https://www.bi.team/publications/social-capital-in-the-united-kingdom/ 📖 Book: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Upswing-America-Together-Century-Again/dp/198212914X