When Robert Putnam, a Harvard University sociologist, visited Downing Street three years ago, he said exactly what the government wanted to hear. In his influential book "Bowling Alone", Mr Putnam had argued that communities were getting more fragmented and mistrust-ful-in the jargon, they were haemorrhag-ing social capital. Happily, though, a committed government could staunch the flow with clever social initiatives. People could be persuaded to trust one another, which would make them healthier, happier and less criminal to boot. Less back-slapping will occur during Mr Putnam's return visit next week, to a private seminar organised by the home secretary. That is because his research has taken a dismal turn. A large ongoing survey of American communities seems to show, uncomfortably, that levels of trust and co-operation are highest in the most homogenous neighbourhoods. People living in diverse areas, it turns out, are not just more suspicious of people who don't look like them; they are also more suspicious of their own kind. Because of that, they suffer socially, economically and politically.
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