And yet human experience points to a less pessimistic reality. Yes, fear and panic can prompt unseemly behaviour – witness the supermarket scrapping over toilet paper at the start of the pandemic – but catastrophe often brings generosity, kindness, and nobility to the fore. While some were hoarding toilet paper, others left precious spare rolls by the front gate for anyone running short. During Melbourne’s locked-down winter, neighbours letterboxed each other offering to help with the shopping. Despite feeling bored, confused, angry, lonely, and anxious in the pandemic, Australians were also likely to experience a sense of solidarity and to regard one another as more trustworthy than before. This book aims to show how we can foster these pro-social human tendencies and make them more enduring.

In their introductory chapter, Andrew Leigh and Nick Terrell argue that social capital, which rests on the idea that ‘the ties that bind us together have an inherent value’, is just as crucial to a successful society as its two counterparts: physical capital ‘such as cars and computers’, and human capital ‘such as education and know how’. Updating Leigh’s earlier work, Disconnected (2010), the subsequent chapter charts social capital’s steady decline. It is not cheerful reading. Whether you track blood donations, religious observance, political engagement, union membership, donating to charity, volunteering, friendships, neighbourhood connections, or participation in team sports and community groups, the data, illustrated with easy-to-read graphs, shows a marked downward trend. About the only thing going up is loneliness.

The rest of the book is devoted to countering this fraying of our social fabric: advice on how to increase volunteering, reinvigorate sport, foster philanthropy, attract more people to worship services, lift political engagement, gain control over our social media addiction, and turn cyber connection into a force for good. Digital matching sites, for example, enable would-be volunteers to find nearby worthy causes where their skills and energy can be most usefully deployed. This makes it easier for willing workers to donate their labour, while ensuring that charities receive targeted help. Along the way, connections are formed and social capital builds. The GoodGym encourages people to channel their exercise regimes into rebuilding social bonds. Instead of pounding a treadmill, they run the streets on a mission, such as calling in on a senior citizen who lives alone and would welcome a visitor. Again, the benefits flow both ways; an otherwise isolated person gets company over a cup of tea, and perhaps a helping hand to install a light bulb, while the runner gains extra motivation to exercise, knowing that if they stay home, they’ll not only be letting themselves down but someone else as well. In the Meal Mates initiative for Meals on Wheels, volunteers don’t just bring food to a person’s home but cutlery and crockery too, so that they can eat together. This reduces volunteer absenteeism and encourages better nutrition and self-care among clients who might otherwise not get out of bed, let alone eat dinner.

The authors excel in synthesising academic research in plain language, rendering meaning from data, and illustrating their arguments with pithy case studies. Key points are neatly summarised at the end of each chapter, and the book is sprinkled with inspiring ideas and practical advice.

Yet I found Reconnected somewhat dissatisfying. It risks reading like an engaging collection of interesting facts and anecdotes. For a book written by a politician and his advisor (Andrew Leigh is the federal member for Fenner), it is surprisingly apolitical. Not that I wanted Labor partisanship – that would have added to the political polarisation the authors rightly bemoan – but I would have welcomed a more developed critique of the forces that are pulling us apart and how to combat them.

In their opening chapter on social capital, the authors cite research that shows that ‘countries that are more equal are also more socially cohesive’. Yet this crucial idea is not well developed. Leigh and Terrell write that it is ‘easier to think about the needs of others when your own household income is growing’. While this may be true, it depends on context. If income growth is skewed to the top end, society will become more divided, not just in terms of wealth but of attitudes and experiences. The lives of rich and poor will be increasingly alien from each other; no amount of philanthropy, volunteering, or other altruistic works will bridge the gap. It is encouraging to read that corporate programs that give staff time off to do good also help major firms to ‘build brand loyalty and compete for the best employees’, but wouldn’t it be preferable if combatting poverty, reducing inequality, and tackling climate change were baked into the aims of the business?

Perhaps that is the subject for a different book. In the meantime, this is a helpful primer for anyone looking to buck the trend of social fragmentation, foster connections, and build thriving communities.