No Longer Bowling Alone: When Fans and Gamers Become Activists

Henry Jenkins

Thu., June 10, 7:00–9:00, Union Theater

In his book Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Renewal of American Community, sociologist Robert Putnam suggests that many members of the post-World War II generation discovered civic engagement at the local bowling alley. People gathered regularly at bowling alleys to play together, to talk about their community, to form social ties, and to identify common interests. Putnam blames television for eroding these strong social ties, encouraging people to spend more time isolated in their homes and less time participating in shared activities. So, what happens when people are forming guilds in World of Warcraft or building fan communities in Second Life, which provide platforms for political and civic actions? How do we understand what happens when protesters in the Middle East, China, or along the Amazon paint themselves blue, dress up as Na’vi and march against local threats to their ways of life? How do we understand activist groups like the Harry Potter Alliance which use fan culture as a platform for human rights activism? Whatever we want to say, these groups are no longer bowling alone. This talk draws on research conducted at MIT and University of Southern California which seeks to better understand the ways participatory culture is proving to be an effective catalyst for social change, trying to understand how skills developed through play are being deployed to help change the world. Drawing on the framework developed by the Digital Youth project, we ask what it means to “geek out” for democracy. Existing research suggests that arts involvement is a high predictor for other forms of civic engagement. Does the same thing apply to interest-driven networks or affinity spaces which form around popular culture?