“The Rock is the Community”: Cocreating Social Capital, Nature, and Transcendence in Central Park, NYC

‘Staying in the Nationalist Bubble’

In this article we show that associational relationships and social norms of villages in rural Tanzania are both capital and social. After outlining the various concepts of social capital we tell how and why we created data on social capital using a large-scale household survey in rural Tanzania that was designed to query households about their social connections and attitudes. By using the Social Capital and Poverty Survey (SCPS) and data from a different survey, which also had information on incomes, we show that a village’s social capital has an effect on the incomes of the households in that village, an effect that is empirically large, definitely social, and plausibly causal. Finally, we use the two data sets to examine a number of proximate channels through which social capital appears to operate.

Creating the Conditions for Intergenerational Justice: Social Capital and Compliance

This chapter applies social identity analysis to social capital theory in order to explain trust and conflict in social networks. It reformulates Putnam's bridging-bonding social capital distinction in terms of the relational social identities-categorical social identities distinction, and represents individuals as socially embedded by explaining them in social identity terms. The goal of the argument is to show how an individual-social group dynamic which social identity theory examines interacts with a conflict-trust dynamic which social capital theory examines. Different types of individual motivation are linked to different social capital-social identity forms. Social group conflict is explained in connection with social psychology's stigma identity-threat model. Individual response to identity conflict is explained in terms of cognitive dissonance reduction.

The relevance of the study of current and forecasted transformations of the social capital of territorial communities is due to the need to strengthen social capital at the local level as a means of consolidating the population in the conditions of the destabilizing pressure of war and the risks of reducing the regulatory capabilities of state administration. The purpose of the study is to reveal the transformational shifts in the social capital of the territorial communities of Ukraine in the war and post-war periods. The scientific novelty of the work consists in revealing the peculiarities of the influence of the Russian-Ukrainian war and the humanitarian crisis caused by it on the trends of the development of social capital of the territorial communities of Ukraine. Forecasting of social capital transformations is based on the use of systemic approach, methods of abstraction and generalization, modeling, and scenario forecasting of time series. The use of the scenario approach is due to the low predictability and instability of military actions and includes realistic, optimistic, and pessimistic forecast versions. The prediction according to the realistic version is based on the assumption of building up the potential of social capital by the communities of the country and, above all, the territories freed from temporary occupation. It is substantiated that social capital will grow mainly within the community and to a lesser extent outside it, which is due to the residents’ need to identify themselves with the community and its values in conditions of threat to life. The surge of social capital and high motivation of the population will be manifested in the active participation of residents in the public life of territorial communities and the post-war reconstruction of the economy. The trends of the social capital transformation are substantiated for three groups of communities: temporarily occupied territories, territorial communities of the «near rear», and communities of the «deep rear». The optimistic version is based on the assumption that in the forecast period, the transformation of social capital will take place in the conditions of the successful end of hostilities and the liberation of the territory of Ukraine from the occupying forces. It is expected that in the conditions of the post-war reconstruction of communities, the multiplier effect of increasing financial capacity will have a positive impact on the social capital of the community and will manifest itself in the strengthening of the residents’ sense of social protection and the reduction of the economic anxiety level. According to the pessimistic version, the transformation of the social capital of territorial communities will take place in the conditions of a repeated massive offensive of Russian troops and the capture of new territories, which may cause a decrease in the level of trust between residents in the struggle for limited resources, discord, and a decrease in civic participation.

In 1983 the New York artist Barbara Kruger released a photomontage showing the face of a female model, resting on a grassy background, with her eyes closed and covered by two leaves. Kruger completed the piece by adding the statement, “We won’t play nature to your culture.” In many ways, this image marked a turning point in America’s popular and intellectual response to the issue of the environment. Twenty-one years earlier, in 1962, Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring had launched a new era in the environmentalist movement, prompting many Americans to begin associating their own physical health with that of the environment. But whereas the publication of Silent Spring and the establishment of Earth Day in 1970 contributed to a far-reaching shift in the ways both scholars and laypersons thought about the practical implications of humanity’s physical engagement with nature, Kruger’s statement represented yet another approach to considering this relationship.

Literature on the effect of community social capital on health is inconsistent and could be related to differences in social capital measures, health outcomes, population groups and locations studied. Therefore this study examines the diversity in associations between community social capital and health by investigating different diseases, populations groups and locations. Mortality records and individual data on sex, age, marital status, ethnic origin and place of residence were available for 6 years (1995-2000). Neighbourhood data, i.e. community social capital, socio-economic level and urbanicity, were linked through postcode information. Community social capital was indicated by measures of community interaction, belongingness, satisfaction and involvement. Variations in all-cause and cause-specific mortality across low and high social capital neighbourhoods were estimated through Poisson regression. In addition, analyses were stratified according to population group and to urbanization level. In the total population, community social capital was not related to all-cause mortality (RR = 1.00; CI: 0.99-1.01). However, residents of high social capital neighbourhoods had lower mortality risks for cancer [especially lung cancer (RR = 0.92; CI: 0.89-0.96)] and for suicide (RR = 0.90; CI: 0.83-0.98). Slightly lower mortality risks were also found for men (RR = 0.98; CI: 0.97-0.99), married individuals (RR = 0.96; CI: 0.94-0.97) and for residents living in socially strong neighbourhoods located in large cities (RR = 0.95; CI: 0.91-0.99). The association between community social capital and health differs per health outcome, study population and location studied. This underlines the need to take such diversity into account when aiming to conceptualize the relation between community social capital and health.

Social capital has been found to be correlated with community welfare, but it is not easy to build and maintain it. The purpose of the current study is to investigate the role of professional coordinators of social relationships to create and maintain social capital in a community. We focused on extension officers in Japanese agricultural communities, who help farmers in both technical and social matters. A large nation-wide survey of extension officers as well as two supplementary surveys were conducted. We found that (1) social capital-related activities (e.g., assistance for building organizations among farmers) were particularly effective for solving problems; (2) social capital (trust relationships) among community residents increased their life quality; (3) social capital in local communities was correlated with extension officers' own communication skills and harmonious relationships among their colleagues. In sum, social capital in local communities is maintained by coordinators with professional social skills.

Social capital refers to the effective functioning of social groups through networks of relationships. The lockdown measures due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) may change the social capital among youths. This study aimed to evaluate changes in social capital before and during COVID-19 lockdown among Chinese youths. It was based on the online COVID-19 Impact on Lifestyle Change Survey (COINLICS) conducted among 10 540 youths at three educational levels, including high/vocational school, undergraduate, and graduate, before and during COVID-19 lockdown. Measures of perceptions of social capital were adapted from a validated Chinese version of Health-related Social Capital Measurement based on youths' characteristics of living and studying environment. Social capital was measured at four dimensions, including individual social capital (ISC), family social capital (FSC), community social capital (CSC), and society social capital (SSC). Overall, compared to before lockdown, ISC and CSC scores decreased, while FSC and SSC scores increased during lockdown. When stratified by educational levels, the trends for each dimension of social capital were consistent with the overall population. There were 43.9%, 5.7%, 32.1%, and 3.7% of the participants showing decreased scores during lockdown for ISC, FSC, CSC, and SSC, respectively, while 7.2%, 24.0%, 15.3%, and 10.7% of participants showed increased scores for ISC, FSC, CSC, and SSC, respectively. Our timely, large-scale study showed decreased social capital in individual and community dimensions and increased social capital in family and society dimensions during lockdown.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of a household's social capital in the form of community group participation and empirically analyses the roles that social capital plays in helping rural households rebuild productive assets after shocks. Design/methodology/approach – In this paper, social capital is modelled as a household's intensity of group participation measured by the density and active participation in group activities as well as their multiplicative and additive indices. Instrumental variable methods were used to address the problem of endogeneity associated with social capital. Findings – The results indicate that household characteristics such as age, education level, dependence ratio and years of village residence as well as village-level characteristics such as the village population density are critical determinants of social capital. In addition, social capital measured in form of density of participation in group activities and attendance score as well as multiplicative and additive indices of these have significant positive effects on the household ability to rebuild livestock assets. Research limitations/implications – The authors realize that several weakness in the approach could compromise the validity of the findings. These weaknesses include: the cross-sectional nature of the data, the omitted variable bias, the endogeneity concerns of social capital and the identification strategy, sample size and the dimensions the authors chose to measure social capital. Future research should explore the factors that can help households to engage more in-group activities. Practical implications – The findings have important implications for government policy especially in areas of agricultural development and poverty reduction. Specifically, governments should pay close attention to the various social groups as they can serve as important channels to achieve better social economic outcomes, including the accumulation of rural assets, as is the case with livestock assets in rural Uganda. Social implications – Many governments in Sub-Saharan Africa are constrained to provide basic public goods to the people. This is due to a combination of limited budgets and lack of good leadership. In such circumstances, the people have to rely on their collective/social effort to take advantage of market opportunities. Such opportunities can be accessed using the existing social structures whose norms and the trust between members permit cooperation. Originality/value – The study contributes to a small but growing empirical literature on social groups and how they can mediate social economic outcomes especially for rural households. The empirical estimations take into consideration the endogeneity concerns associated with social network capital. The paper will be useful for policy makers and researchers who may have a keen interest in the roles that group activities play in agricultural development and poverty reduction.

Relationship among different levels of individual and community social capital with oral health related-quality of life among adolescents

Family as source, user, and builder of social capital

Tiger conservation often requires local-level support to avoid facing serious political challenges. In order to address the political challenges, the social capital of communities can be utilized to create community action and to help understand local dynamics. We studied the social capital in two villages bordering Corbett Tiger Reserve, India. Our results indicate that social capital of local communities is a significant determinant of potential for community action to support or oppose tiger conservation outcomes. Our results also indicate that specific components of social capital (solidarity, reciprocity and cooperation, networks, and mutual support) were critical in this potential community action. Further, the data suggest that the decline of social capital was led by the financial disparities created by unplanned growth of tourism outside the reserve boundaries. We suggest that policy and management interventions should consider social capital of local communities and ways in which it may support tiger conservation in India.

This research focused on implementation in community empowerment efforts by social capital. Social capital developed in the community can be the sustainable and empowerment reinforcement of the community in the society. The purpose of this study is to describe the efforts to empower the KNB community, to describe the social capital implementation in empowering the KNB community, and to analyze the social capital in the KNB community that can be implemented in the social studies learning process. The approach used a qualitative approach and case studies with data collection methods using observation, interviews, and documentary studies. The findings indicated that empowerment has done by the KNB community includes the awareness stage, the capacity building stage, the empowerment stage, and the evaluation stage. Meanwhile, social capital has implemented in norms, beliefs, and networks. There are two norms in the KNB community, which are written and verbal forms. Trust in the KNB community can be seen internally through the division of work and management, and externally through the value of honesty application in building cooperation with donors. The network formed results from social relations that exist with the company or the community. In the field of education, social capital can be implemented in the social studies learning process through the internalization of social capital studies in social studies material and strengthening social capital for the character of students.

This set of papers on social capital collectively raises very interesting theoretical, methodological, and applied questions about concept and its application. Not surprisingly, they do not resolve those questions, although they provide some useful directions for future research and for applied community development work. Bridger and Alter, in lead article in this issue, examine state of both urban and rural communities and potential for progressive community development outcomes in those communities by enveloping political economy analysis within Wilkinson's interactional framework. They examine effects of global capitalism on U.S. communities and neighborhoods, identifying growing spatial, class, and ethnic inequalities, as well as contrasting leveling effect of telecommunications revolution. All of these patterns, they argue, militate against community social capital as an engine of change for place-based community development. In effect, Bridger and Alter answer question, Do communities act?, in negative, as does Wilkinson, who provides inspiration for their work: [C]ommunity development, when it occurs, is one part of larger process of community change. Ecological, organizational, situational, and other forces converge to structure and alter relationships among people in a local setting, and random events also bring turbulence to local arena. Given this it would be an error to say that the community in any literal sense, even in situations where community actions might occur. Instead, people act, and their actions connect with acts of others to form action [social] fields (1991, p. 92). Bridger and Alter argue that an interactionist perspective provides a better basis for understanding efforts to promote community development than does a perspective focusing on social capital, and that, given all cross-cutting loyalties of community residents and openness of community boundaries, such perspective provides basis for progressive change without necessity of trust (a central feature of social capital, since at least a minimal level of trust must exist to achieve higher degrees of social capital). Another way of stating question is as follows: is progressive community development (what Wilkinson, 1991, calls community field, a special case of social field) a result of enduring patterns of relationships (trust, stable although changing networks, norms of reciprocity) or does it usually arise from structures of shifting interaction involving local and extra-local actors responding primarily to external forces on community? Or does progressive generalized community and neighborhood development sometimes fit one of these perspectives and other times other? The other three social capital articles in this issue suggest that communities can and sometimes do act. Agnitsch et al., state it this way: Although question 'Do communities act?' has long been of great interest to community sociologists, answer today is, 'They better act,' citing declining support for community-level improvement from state and federal sources (p. 37, this volume). Emery and Flora agree with Bridger and Alter that social capital is not key to explaining why community development is successful in certain communities and not in others; nor do they believe that financial capital is key. Rather, it is combination and integration of different kinds of capital that is central for understanding community change. Social capital is indeed an important link in that chain, but not only one. They argue that it is important to address political capital separate from social capital to insure that political power is treated explicitly. They introduce idea of an upward or downward spiral of capitals, reminiscent of Myrdal's concept of cumulative causation, but they see social capital as a glue or ligament for holding other kinds of capital together in a purposeful chain. …