Social Capital Theorists Research Articles

Political crisis and social trust: the case of Australia

ABSTRACT Trust in Australian political institutions has declined markedly since 2007. Trust scholars and social capital theorists argue that institutional trust affects social trust, which implies that declining trust in political institutions should also reduce social trust. However, using data from the Australian Election Study, World Values Survey and HILDA panel study, I find no evidence of any aggregate-level decline in Australian social trust since 2007. While this could be a result of the ‘coup era’ in Australian politics from 2010 to 2018, a better explanation is that social trust remained high because permanent changes in trust occur primarily among younger people. A long-term decline through generational replacement therefore remains possible. This challenges both social capital theory and institutional theories of social trust, but would explain the experiences of other advanced democracies during episodes of political crisis, including New Zealand, Greece, Finland, Japan, Sweden, Spain and the United States.

Is social capital bridging or bonding? Evidence from a field experiment with association members

Social capital theorists posit that association members are key agents for propagating norms of trust and trustworthiness from within associations toward the society as a whole. Nevertheless, others claim that social capital is primarily bonding, that is, it helps ingroup members better achieve internal goals, but little benefits or even costs carry over to the rest of society. We deploy experimental methods to probe into whether social capital in associations has a predominantly bridging or bonding nature. We compare members’ behavior in anonymous Trust Games with behavior by a demographically comparable sample of non-members. We find that (a) Members are significantly more trusting and trustworthy than the general population both when interacting with fellow members and with people from the general population; (b) Members trust and repay trust from people from the general public nearly at the same level as they do with fellow members. Therefore, most of social capital existing within associations “bridges” over to the rest of society. We quantify 83% of additional trust, and 71% of additional trustworthiness existing in associations vis-à-vis society at large to be bridging and the remainder to be bonding. (c) Association members are no more optimistic or less accurate in predicting others’ behavior than people from the general public. (d) Increased involvement in association activities is not correlated with increased pro-sociality.

“It’s More than Just Needing money”: The Value of Supporting Networks of Care

ABSTRACT It is well established in research, practice, and policy that unpaid caregivers (family and friends of people with care needs) experience stress in their role. Supports that have been put in place by policy planners and program developers to support caregivers may not be accessed by caregivers at all or may do little to reduce their stress. Accessing personal resources (education, finances), in addition to social resources (individual connections) and societal resources (community supports) are critical in fostering resilience in caregivers (helping them adapt to stress and adversity). Social capital theorists argue that creating connections at various levels can improve access to resources. This research, through qualitative interviews (n = 21), identifies the different levels of resources required to address the needs of caregivers. Our findings indicate that interventions that focus on access to personal-level resources (education, funding) are important, but are on their own insufficient. Of more importance were interventions that work to improve relationships between formal providers and families; access to interdisciplinary teams; cross-sectoral collaborations; and inter-organization relationships, highlighting that a system that works together is likely to improve caregivers’ access to resources.

Relationships Matter: The Social and Economic Benefits of Community Playgroups

Community playgroups have been a feature of Australia’s early childhood education and care landscape for at least forty years. Research in this field has focused on the developmental benefits of playgroup participation for children. However, as a playgroup member interviewed for this study said, that tells only half the story of playgroups’ benefits. The other half – and the focus of this report – describes the benefits of participation for parents and carers, and the spillovers or wider social value that this generates. Drawing on qualitative and quantitative data, this research contributes to knowledge and advocacy gaps by critically appraising:• the contribution of playgroups to the landscape of social care• their adaptive response to changing social and economic trends• their role in developing social capital and acting as a catalyst for parents and carers to engage with other social settings, and• their contribution to the informal or non-market economy.The findings of this study emphasise the point developed by social capital theorists that relationships matter. However, the report also reveals some structural weaknesses and constraints that may impede playgroup participation and the contribution of playgroups to community capacity building. These include:• constraints around the finances, leadership and training support of playgroups• variable participation across cultural, linguistic and faith groups• gaps in information provision about playgroups.

The Contingent Value of Embeddedness

Social capital theorists claim that belonging to a densely knit social network creates a shared identity, mutually beneficial exchange, trust, and a sense of belonging in that group. Taken together with the empirical research on the importance of social support and social integration for individuals’ well-being, there is reason to expect that the density of one’s personal social network should be positively related to well-being. However, using a unique data set on extensive personal social networks from a convenience sample of 198 young adults, the author finds that the relationship between network density and well-being is significantly more complex. Specifically, results suggest that the effect of network density on self-evaluations of efficacy and worth depends on whether or not individuals belong to self-affirming social environments. For those who belong to self-affirming social environments, network density increases self-esteem and self-efficacy, which is consistent with social capital theorists’ contention that social closure (network density) results in social integration and a sense of belongingness. Importantly, however, density reduces self-efficacy and has no statistically significant effect on self-esteem for those with disaffirming social environments.

Preventing Balkanization or Facilitating Racial Domination? A Critique of the New Equal Protection

The Supreme Court requires that equal protection plaintiffs prove defendants acted with discriminatory intent. The intent rule has insulated from judicial invalidation numerous policies that harmfully impact racial and ethnic minorities. Court doctrine also mandates that state actors generally remain colorblind. The colorblindness doctrine has led to the judicial invalidation of policies designed to ameliorate the conditions of racial inequality. Taken together, these two equality doctrines facilitate racial domination. The Court justifies this outcome on the ground that the Constitution does not protect “group rights.”Constitutional law theorists have criticized these aspects of equal protection doctrine. Recently, however, some theorists have defended the Court’s discarding of group-based equal protection. They argue that social justice advocates should pursue redress for vulnerable groups by asserting dignity-based liberty claims under the Due Process Clause. In a widely cited article, Professor Kenji Yoshino argues, in fact, that dignity is the “New Equal Protection.” Applying insights from “social capital theory,” Yoshino contends that group-based equal protection causes “pluralism anxiety” — or a fear of “balkanization” among the justices. Dignity arguments, by contrast, do not present such concerns because they rest on appeals to universal justice.This Article contests the view that the Court should discontinue class-based equal protection in order to maintain social cohesion. Leading social capital theorists find that multiculturalism, though temporarily divisive (if at all), provides many long-term benefits. Also, numerous social psychology studies find that racial and ethnic inequality cause far more social disruption than group-based identities. This empirical research also demonstrates that the Court’s equality doctrine mirrors the views regarding race relations held by most whites, while contradicting the perspectives of most persons of color. The enforcement of white majoritarian viewpoints should not serve as the foundation for an equality doctrine. Anti-subordination theory, by contrast, would provide more egalitarian outcomes and should inform Court doctrine.

Function and Functional Explanation in Social Capital Theory: A Philosophical Appraisal

Social capital is frequently offered up as a variable to explain such educational outcomes as academic attainment, drop-out rates and cognitive development. Yet, despite its popularity amongst social scientists, social capital theory remains the object of some scepticism, particularly in respect of its explanatory ambitions. I provide an account of some explanatory options available to social capital theorists, focussing on the functions ascribed to social capital and on how these are used as explanatory variables in educational theory. Two of the most influential writers in this field are Coleman and Bourdieu. I explore their commonalities and differences, both in respect of their writing and in respect of some of the many theorists they have influenced. I argue that social capital theorists have made substantial progress in responding to sceptically minded critics, but that significant questions remain, especially about the success of the more ambitious explanatory variants as these apply to educational outcomes—functional explanation in particular. Functional explanation, and its association with Bourdieu, is discussed in ‘Bourdieu and functional explanation’; thereafter I discuss the more modest ambition of identifying the functions associated with social capital. In ‘Coleman, intergenerational closure and educational outcomes’ I show how Coleman provides resources for revealing how social structure features in social explanation in an educational context, and in ‘Inequality, class and ethnicity’ I suggest that some of the questions raised in his account are most satisfactorily responded to by educational theorists who adopt Bourdieu’s emphasis on social class and inequality.

Social career management: Social media and employability skills gap

Social capital theorists have established decades ago that better connected people do better in life. The emergence of online social networking sites have given a new impetus to building and exploiting connections for career management. While professionals acknowledge that social networking is essential for business and development, new graduates coming into the corporate world are not equipped with the uptodate skill set. Through the lens of the improved employability objectives, this paper draws conclusions from a recent study of UK business graduates and their use of social networking. The paper presents for discussion an employability skill set for contemporary business professional and calls for higher education to address the skill gap. Further research directions are discussed.

Enduring Dreams

The Canadian province of Manitoba has long pursued an aggressive strategy of hydroelectric development. This effort was predicated upon a mix of old and new assumptions, including long-held beliefs that power must be cheap and that the province, operating through its crown utility, Manitoba Hydro, possessed the only legitimate claim to northern land and water resources. The province also recognised the need to remove Aboriginal communities from lands and resources to be used for hydro development notwithstanding the fact that these communities and individuals had long practiced what was, by many accounts, a comfortable and economically viable way of life. Using a social capital framework developed by both sociologists and political scientists, the consequences of this strategy on the displaced Aboriginal residents of South Indian Lake, a small community located in Manitoba’s northern hydro region, are examined. The analysis is based on interviews conducted with former residents now living in a number of urban centers throughout the province. It is concluded that these individuals have been largely, if not entirely, unsuccessful in forming the variety of communal bonds emphasised by social capital theorists. These difficulties continue today, as individuals who were left on their own, with little assistance either from back home or from the state, exist in a world largely devoid of supportive social networks

Demythifying the “Dark Side” of Social Capital: A Comparative Bayesian Analysis of White, Black, Latino, and Asian American Voting Behavior

Previous studies have suggested that Americans who regularly attend church develop important civic skills which facilitate their participation in politics (e.g., see Verba et al. 1995). Churches were also heralded as important repositories of social capital, particularly for disadvantaged minority groups who have fewer opportunities to develop civic skills (Putnam 2000). Moreover, social capital theorists have argued that homogenous congregations foster the development of bonding (in-group) rather than bridging (out-group) social capital. One important fact, which has not been examined closely in the voting literature, is that American churches are still highly segregated by race/ethnicity according to a recent Gallup Poll (2004). Also unclear in the literature is the differential impact of bonding versus bridging social capital on political participation. Scholarship by Putnam (2000) and Gutmann (1998) suggests that heterogeneity within associational memberships is healthier for democratic citizenship than those with more homogenous memberships. This paper evaluates this claim and investigates whether or not bonding social capital fosters or discourages political participation for both white-majority voters and minorities. Using Bayesian statistical methods, this study, for the first time, conducted a national, cross-racial analysis of whites, Blacks, Latinos, and Asian Americans based on data from the General Social Survey (2002), National Election Studies (2000), and the Pilot National Asian American Political Survey (2001). The finding suggests that church attendance is significant and positively associated with voting participation among racial/ethnic groups that attend churches with mostly homogenous memberships. Contrary to the negative implications purported to stem from the "dark side" of social capital, the results of this research show that bonding social capital positively influences participation in politics. These findings lead to important implications for understanding the mobilization of immigrant communities, a group that political parties rarely attempt to mobilize (Kim 2007; Wong 2006).

Political Distrust and Social Capital in Europe and the USA

Levels of rising political distrust in the USA and parts of Europe attracted political scientists’ attention in the 1990s, and urged them to look at possible consequences of this phenomenon for the functioning of democracies and social life. Approximately during the same period, from a sociological viewpoint, social capital theorists started studying the effects of declining social capital on political and economic life. In this article, we looked at the relationship between political distrust and social capital from an interdisciplinary perspective. We studied the relationship in six European countries from three regions (North-West, South and East), and the USA, and we were interested in the question of whether this relationship varies over the regions, or whether it is approximately the same everywhere. We used ISPP data from the 2004 wave, which included a range of social capital indicators and political distrust items. Social capital was subdivided into four dimensions, namely, networks (membership of organizations), interpersonal or social trust, social norms (citizenship norms), and linking social capital (political activities). First we studied the effect of political distrust on these four dimensions of social capital, while controlling for other variables such as political efficacy, political interest and a set of socio-structural background variables. One of our main findings was that the only significant effect of political distrust we found throughout all countries was a negative effect on one dimension of social capital, namely, interpersonal trust: the more people distrust politicians and people in government, the less they trust other people in general, even when controlled for all other variables. The reverse relationship led us to the same conclusion: the more people tend to trust people in general, the less they distrust politics, a result we found in all countries. This finding refutes the claim that there is no or either only a very weak relationship between political and social trust, as some have strongly argued before. Other important political attitudes connected to social capital were political interest and political efficacy, and for political distrust it was external efficacy. Significant socio-economic factors were religiousness and educational level for membership of voluntary organizations, educational level for interpersonal trust, religiousness for citizenship norms, and educational level and age for political activities. The reciprocal relationship was strongest in the USA and North-Western Europe, as were the explained variances of our (more extensive) regression models. In Southern and Eastern Europe other factors appear to be at work which influence both social capital and political distrust.

Debating group structure: How local, translocal, and national voluntary organizations promote democracy

America's changing civic universe has been the focus of great attention in recent years. A debate has ensued over what kinds of organizations made the United States a “nation of joiners.” Communitarian and social capital theorists assert that local organizations both anchored civic life in the U.S. in years past and hold the key to its future. Skocpol, on the other hand, insists that translocal organizations have historically proven most beneficial to democracy. This paper uses contemporary data to examine the merits of local, translocal, and national voluntary groups from the perspective of promoting civic and political engagement. Findings suggest that while strictly national organizations have few redeeming qualities, local and translocal groups promote civic engagement equally well. On this basis, the debate between Skocpol and the social capitalists and communitarians seems overblown. When it comes to the promotion of political engagement, however, translocal groups outperform their local counterparts.

Civic Engagement and Voter Participation among Turkish and Moroccan Minorities in Rotterdam

Across Europe, voter turnout among immigrant minorities is lower than among native citizens. Social capital theorists like Putnam argue that being part of civic organisations fosters social trust which results in increased political participation. To examine Putnam's argument, we asked random samples of Turkish and Moroccan minorities in Rotterdam about their participation in various types of association, to what extent they trust others, and whether they voted in the last local and national elections. Our central research question was: ‘Do civic organisations that generate trust have a more positive influence on participation in local and national elections than others?’ We make a distinction between cross-ethnic (e.g. a Dutch neighbourhood association) and co-ethnic types of organisation (e.g. a Turkish youth club), as well as between horizontally structured or client-oriented (e.g. religious associations) and authority-oriented organisations (e.g. trade unions). We argue that cross-ethnic and client-oriented types of organisation are the most likely to foster generalised trust in one's fellow citizens. Our results confirm the expected direct positive relationship between cross-ethnic organisations and local voter turnout. Participation in co-ethnic organisations is indirectly positively related to voting through cross-ethnic participation. In addition, Moroccans are more likely to vote in local and national elections if they take part in client-oriented organisations, whereas Turks are more likely to vote if they are part of authority-oriented organisations. Lastly, although Turks with higher levels of social trust are more likely to vote, contrary to theoretical expectations, trust does not explain the observed relationships between civic engagement and voting.

Ethnicity, Families and Social Capital: Caring Relationships across Italian and Caribbean Transnational Families

Social capital theorists acknowledge that caring networks operating within and above all across households lie at the heart of families and communities. They also see these networks and family bonds as generally declining in contemporary society due to individualisation. However, there seems to be little empirical evidence documenting these processes in detail, particularly with regards to minority ethnic and transnational families. This article explicitly addresses reciprocal relationships in ethnic minority families, focusing on different forms of care circulating within transcultural and intergenerational family and kin networks. By doing so, this discussion reveals many nuances of family life and the processes by which cultural norms, values, attitudes and behaviour are transmitted, transformed and maintained across generations and geographical distance.

The demand for social interaction

In this paper social interaction is modeled as a consumer good. A model of household production is employed to derive the demand for social interaction. The model shows that the demand for social interaction is a function of its price, the price of other goods and income. The theory is tested with data from the General Social Survey and the results show that social interaction can be explained as the consequence of utility maximizing behavior by individuals. These results are in contrast to social capital theorists who have attributed these changes to factors such as increased community heterogeneity.

Do You Know What It Means to Miss New Orleans? Internet Communication, Geographic Community, and Social Capital in Crisis

This study investigated Internet communication and use in a crisis situation, Hurricane Katrina, to explore the role of the Internet in supporting or diminishing geographically-based community during a crisis. The researchers conducted an online survey of Internet users (n=1192) from the dispersed metropolitan New Orleans area. The survey focused on amount, type, function, and importance of Internet use to creating and maintaining social capital, supporting geographically-based communities, activating social networks, reducing uncertainty, and achieving both expressive and instrumental communication goals. The results indicated that Internet users in a crisis situation went online to seek interactive fora specific to their neighborhoods and to activate weak ties in their social networks. They engaged in more uncertainty reduction behavior when experiencing higher degrees of damage. They turned to the Internet in place of other media as a result of disruptions caused by the crisis. Women valued online expressive communication more than men did. The findings suggest that social capital theorists would benefit from a communication perspective on the Internet. The study also led to the formation of suggestions for emergency preparedness agencies, shelter providers, crisis victims, and online news providers that can improve emergency response.

A Qualitative Analysis of Parenting and Social Capital: Comparing the Work of Coleman and Bourdieu

This paper will present an empirically based analysis of parenting in order to critically examine the work of two major social capital theorists. The work of James S. Coleman and Pierre Bourdieu is much cited, but while both focus on the links between individuals, families and wider social structures, their theories are based on very different interpretations of social capital and its implications. Drawing on qualitative data from a UK based qualitative study of parenting resources this paper will critically assess each theory using case studies. We argue that these two approaches allude to different social resources, with Coleman’s work representing the tightly bonded solidarities more often found among working class communities, while Bourdieu focuses on the more diffuse, instrumental networking most associated with the middle classes.

ITALIAN FAMILIES AND SOCIAL CAPITAL

This paper explores how care provision takes place in families across countries and generations and what are its implications for the individuals and families involved. Drawing on the experiences of women of Italian origin who have migrated at different times, the paper shows that families are complex and fluid entities capable of adapting to different circumstances, such as geographical dispersal and rapid cultural changes. Rather than being in decline, as some social capital theorists seem to suggest, the paper demonstrates that families are resilient units that continue to perform numerous emotional and practical tasks for the individuals who form them. However, even it is argued that families can be seen as a locus of social capital of different forms, the paper also shows how maintaining family connections and fulfilling family obligations both constrains and empowers the individuals involved in them, especially women who tend to do a bigger share of this type of work. Cet article examine la manière dont les familles se chargent de diverses responsabilités à travers les pays et les générations et étudie ce qui en résulte pour les individus et les familles. A partir des expériences de femmes italiennes qui ont émigré à des époques différentes, l'article démontre que la famille est une entité fluide et complexe capable de s'adapter à des circonstances différentes telles que la dispersion géographique et les changements culturels rapides. Certains théoriciens du capital social soutiennent que la famille est en déclin; cet article démontre qu'au contraire la famille est une entité sociale qui a du ressort et qu'elle continue à remplir de multiples tâches affectives et pratiques pour les individus qui les constituent. Cet article montre comment le maintien ion des liens et l'exécution des obligations familiales à la fois dynamise les individus concernés, surtout des femmes, qui ont tendance à accomplir une part plus importante de ce travail. familles transnationales, capital social, tâches sociales, Italiens, rôle de la femme et generation

Social Capital and Citizenship Education in Schools

This paper provides preliminary evidence suggesting that Labour introduced citizenship lessons in schools because of its concern about perceived declining levels of social capital, and that the normative model of citizenship underpinning the curriculum is that which best corresponds to the concerns of social capital theorists. It also proposes an ideational approach to policy network analysis for analysing the introduction of the policy, with the concept of social capital, treated as a programmatic belief, regarded as the independent variable.

”WHAT WOULD DURKHEIM DO?” A COMMENT ON KUSHNER AND STERK

Kushner and Sterk1 presented an interesting assessment of whether Durkheim’s Suicide2 should be cited as evidence that low social cohesion yields greater morbidity and mortality—in other words, that lack of “social capital” is detrimental to population health. The authors highlight several crucial issues: enthusiasm for social capital should not overshadow the need for material provisions, public health applications of social capital have been “promiscuous,” and social capital is no panacea for societal ills. However, their article raises 2 fundamental issues that present challenges to some of their own conclusions and highlight some of the problems with the use of the social capital construct within public health. First, in their critique of Durkheim’s typology, the authors quickly dismiss Durkheim’s concern for altruistic and fatalistic suicide resulting from excessive integration. Although downplayed by Durkheim, these components are still pivotal to his thinking on social solidarity. Consequently, Kushner and Sterk ignore Durkheim’s concern for balance, in which levels of social integration achieve an “organic equilibrium” of cohesion and individuality to prevent social pathology.3 The high suicide rates among women and military personnel that Kushner and Sterk cite as evidence of excessive integration leading to suicide actually support Durkheim’s argument that both too little and too much integration can be detrimental.2(p217) Second, Kushner and Sterk’s article contributes to a tendency within public health to conflate social cohesion and social capital. In their discussion of social capital, the authors, like many in public health, emphasize network ties, norms of reciprocity, and trust—all of which are consistent with Putnam’s conception of social capital4 (the most popular conception of social capital in the field of public health5) and a social cohesion framework6—but ignore the fourth element of social capital: other forms of capital (economic, human, cultural, etc.) within the network itself. Other social capital theorists (e.g., Bourdieu, Coleman) accommodate the need to consider other forms of capital to fully understand how social capital operates within societies.7–9 Although Kushner and Sterk acknowledge that social capital cannot be a substitute for material resources, they nonetheless reinforce the conflation of social capital with social cohesion. Although Durkheim’s scholarship is flawed (e.g., his conception of gender leans toward biological determinism), his discussion of social solidarity is a stimulating starting point for the study of positive and negative aspects of social cohesion and social capital and their relevance to population health. Certainly, the concept of social capital has Durkheimian—and (often ignored) Marxist9—roots, but would Durkheim view social capital as many within public health do? We are not certain he would.