Blind spots, counting alone, and “sheds” for men
Good morning,
We want to express our sincere gratitude for your support of Connective Tissue since our launch last week. In just seven days, nearly 300 people have subscribed from across 30 U.S. states and 14 countries. Your interest in this work has exceeded our loftiest expectations for kicking off this newsletter.
If you subscribed and didn’t have a chance to check out our first newsletter, we encourage you to read it here. It sets the stage for why we launched Connective Tissue and how we intend to build it over time.
This week’s newsletter grapples with some of the most pressing questions around connection and community, both in terms of research and practice:
How can social capital research better incorporate and reflect the experiences of Black and minority communities?
How has the increasing focus on measurement in the social sector shaped civil society?
What strategies can we pursue to get disconnected men out of isolation and into community?
So, feel free to give today’s newsletter a read and pass it along to whoever you think might be interested. And, as always, please reach out to us at theconnectivetissue@gmail.com with feedback, questions, content to feature, and whatever else is on your mind.
- Sam, David, + Eric
The Reads
Scientific American - “Social Capital in Black Communities Is Often Overlooked” by Nancy Averett
Highlighting the research done by Jacqueline Mattis and LeConté Dill, Averett discusses the often overlooked current of collectivism that runs through majority-Black neighborhoods that is used to “buffer the community against systematic oppression.” The author argues that better understanding the role of social capital within marginalized communities can help to strengthen it–both in marginalized and non-marginalized communities alike.
Questions raised: How can social capital research better reflect the experiences of Black and minority communities? What can communities typically considered “high social capital” learn from those typically seen as “low social capital?”
American Storylines - “America’s ‘Friendship Recession’ is Weakening Civic Life” by Daniel Cox
Drawing on his past research documenting a “friendship recession” in American life, Cox makes the case that “the shrinking of our friend groups is not an individual tragedy, but a collective one.” Friendship predicts myriad measures of community involvement, including going to a third place, attending religious services, and volunteering in your community.
Question raised: If friendship drives community involvement, and community involvement drives friendship, how do you engage the most socially disconnected people (those with zero or one close friends) to participate in community?
The Research
Philanthropy & Digital Civil Society - “Counting Alone?” by Aaron Horvath
How has the increasing focus on measurement in the nonprofit sector shifted our conception and experience of civil society? According to Aaron Horvath, a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford PACS, “The rise of impact evaluation … has accelerated [civil society] decline by institutionalizing intermediaries and reframing civic participation as civic spectatorship. While quantitative obsessions aren’t solely to blame … they have contributed to a sort of civic myopia that has impaired our ability to imagine and collectively pursue positive social change.”
Horvath asserts that “avowedly objective measures” shape how organizations set priorities and allocate resources, undermine the relational aspects of community-building work, and reorient nonprofits around donors’ whims rather than their communities’ needs. In so doing, “the metrics obsession … fundamentally alters relationships between nonprofits and the communities in which they are embedded.”
He ends with a provocative question: should we attempt to fix evaluation itself, or fix the crumbling civic infrastructure that necessitated the practice in the first place?
→ download the full article to read here (note: article begins on p. 26).
The Work
Men’s Shed Movement - Global
What it is: The Men’s Shed Movement started in Australia in the 1990s, and was originally conceived to combat loneliness among retired men. It has grown to more than 2,500 sheds in a dozen countries, each with projects based on local interests.
How it works: Each shed gathers men in a shared space for “shoulder-to-shoulder” (the movement’s motto) community-building around DIY projects. The phrase “no pressure” appears often in the group’s language; whether you’re a man who wants to form deep friendships or one who prefers simple chit-chat over a woodworking project, the shed is a place for you. This recent piece profiles the movement well.
Why it matters: Among the most impressive elements of the Movement’s success is how it was formally integrated into Australia’s national men’s health policy, an incredible example of a grassroots movement driving institutional change from the bottom up.
Have feedback on the newsletter? Want to share content for us to feature? Interested in getting involved as a contributor? Email us at theconnectivetissue@gmail.com.