The social fabric of society In the late 18th century, the metaphor “the social fabric” was first used in England in response to the industrial development of the machine loom, which raised concerns that citizens would become isolated as more people moved from villages to cities to work in factories (Lepore, 2021). To date, the metaphor has been used by various disciplines, including researchers (e.g., sociologists and psychologists), policy makers, and artists, to describe the strength of connectedness between groups in the society – social cohesion, individuals, institutions, systems, and in infrastructure (Bowen, 2015; Chang & Rubin, 2020; Kawachi & Berkman, 2000). In this dissertation, stitching the social fabric of society refers to community volunteers – “threads” – reaching out to lonely, vulnerable, or disadvantaged people – “loose threads” – with the intention of developing and strengthening reciprocal and supportive relationships in the society.
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