¶ … Bowling Alone Putnam; School Ties, Space, and Resilience by Carpenter; and Globalization of Disaster: Trends, Problems and Dilemmas by Alexander. I chose these articles because each in its own way deals with the problem of community and change. Bowling Alone focuses on the impact of women in the workplace, family mobility and changing demographics on declining civic society. School Ties examines the effect that social networks and built environments have on one another. Globalization of Disaster looks at an entire global community that has been changed by rapid technological advancements in communications, travel, and commerce. The idea of resilience offered by School Ties is helpful in addressing the problematic issues identified both by "Bowling Alone" and Globalization of Disaster and in this reflection paper I will show how the concept can be applied. Bowling Alone was a very interesting read because it identifies the disintegration of the stable, social family unit, rooted in a particular place/community with a particular history as the main reason that civic engagement has eroded in the U.S. It points to women entering the workforce as one of the reasons for this disintegration -- the family unit is divided by having two parents out of the home; there is no stability for children -- if children exist at all (Putnam, 1995). The...

Another factor in the disintegration is the collapse of rootedness: families are more likely to pick up and move nowadays than ever before. They are not bound to a particular place; they do not put down roots. Therefore, their lack of civic engagement is a natural consequence (Putnam, 1995). These two factors are telling of the American consciousness -- a loss of familial well-being and a loss of social/community attachment. Individuals have their eyes set on bigger things.
The bigger things are the global economy and the advent of globalized disasters, as recounted by Alexander (2006). Alexander describes how globalized disaster is now a going concern for people all over the world. Indeed, the world has become very small due to communications advancements that allow persons on opposite faces of the globe to share information instantaneously. Information flows have ignited a veritable avalanche of data: what happens in France, Syria, China, Russia is now instantly Tweeted or spread over newswires because of technology. A terrorist strike in the UK is felt all over the world. A plane that goes missing over the Indian Ocean is front page news for a few moments no matter where one is. This is the essence of globalization: there is no more small community: everyone is part of one global community. This has political, social and economical ramifications: leaders of nations must respond…