SOCIAL CAPITAL
RADBOUD UNIVERSITY NIJMEGEN
Inhoud
Lecture 1 (11-4): Founders and foundations...........................................................................................1
Lecture 2 (13-4): micro questions about inequality and mobility...........................................................7
Lecture 3 (18-4): micro questions about inter-generational mobility...................................................13
Lecture 4 (20-4): From micro to macro questions, from friends to enemies… and back again.............19
Lecture 5: Macro questions about changes in social cohesion via cohorts...........................................24
Lecture 6 (10-5): from dys- or utopia to nuanced views on online social capital..................................31
Lecture 7 (11-5): macro-micro explanations and mediating mechanisms............................................37
Lecture 8 (16-5): From bowling alone to bowling together..................................................................44
Lecture 1 (11-4): Founders and foundations
What is Social Capital?
What are the main components? All kind of elements that are probably related to social capital:
- contact with family?
- contact with neighbours and friends?
- helping a classmate move house?
- giving someone directions? helping someone you bump into on the street?
- online friends?
- organizations, a student association?
- trust?
As Bourdieu (1986) said,…:
Economic capital: accumulated property rights, immediately and directly convertible into money.
Example: luxury goods, houses, money
Cultural capital: educational qualifications that can be converted into money. Example: certificats,
graduate, paintings
Social capital: social obligations or ties.
- “... the aggregate of the actual or potential resources which are linked to possession of a
durable network of more or less institutionalized relationships of mutual acquaintance and
recognition, i.e., membership in a group which provides backing of the collectivity-owned
capital...” (p. 51)
Definition of Bourdieu: Stock of social capital per individual: sum of mobilizable network
connections, each with its own economic and cultural capital.
,Social capital is the outcome of instrumental, (sub)conscious, individual or collective investments in
the build-up and maintenance of social relationships with an eye on expected future returns.
Social (and cultural) capital is interchangeable; but is based on and derived from economic capital.
What is social capital Coleman (1988)
Rational Action paradigm in the study of social systems:
- Sociology sees individuals as socialized actors, without goals, without an “engine for action”.
- Economics sees individuals as having a goal: utility maximalization, but overlooks that human
actions are shaped and constrained by the social context.
“Social capital is defined by its function. It is ...a variety of different entities, with two elements in
common: they all consist of some aspect of social structures, and they facilitate certain actions of
actors ... within the structure. ...Social capital inheres in the structure of relations between actors and
among actors... Social capital comes about through changes in the relations among persons that
facilitate action” (p. S98/S100).
A vague definition: social relations that facilitate behaviour. Both the resources themselves and the
way they are obtained fall under it, but are not as sharply differentiated as by Bourdieu.
Definition quickly leads to tautology in which social capital is equated with the resources obtained.
Coleman differences three forms of social capital:
- (1) Obligations, reciprocal expectations and trustworthiness of networks;
- (2) Information channels via social relations in networks;
o If you have a good network with other scholars as a scientist, then it’s not necessary to
read every paper about your research (?)
- (3) Social norms for the sake of collective (rather than individual) interests.
In 1 and 3, “social closure” plays a large role: In closed networks more “social capital” can be
produced than in open networks.
In the left figure (a): If person A would cheat on B, it has
no further problems to D, because person D doesn’t know
D so there is no problem. The same with D and E
Social capital consists of social relations/networks that can be characterized as a “public good/social
resource”. (unlike financial, physical and human capital, which are individual resources).
- Returns, including for those who don’t invest (externalities);
, - Losses, including for those who do invest.
No role for economic or cultural capital?
There is interest in relationships between the social capital of parents and the human capital
(education) of their children.
What is social capital? Putman (2000)
“whereas physical and human capital refers to properties of individuals ...Social capital refers to
connections among individuals – social networks and the norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness
that arise from them.” (Putnam, 2000; p. 19 etc.).
- Note: connections among individuals social networks are, according to Putnam
(implicitly), lasting connections within “associations”, in other words, “civic organizations”:
more or less formally-organized associations of volunteers.
- So, according to Putnam (2000):
o Individuals have/maintain Social Relationships (via (formal) networks),
o Based on Norms of Reciprocity,
o from which mutual Trustworthiness arises.
o But in earlier studies (Putnam, 1993, 1995):
o Social capital is a ...stock possessed by communities and even nations and the
consequent structural effects on their development...
o But in later studies (Putnam, 2007):
o Mean and lean definition: social networks and the associated norms of reciprocity
and trustworthiness
What is social capital?
Social Capital is thus:
- Ambiguous
- Diverse
- Described at various levels
- Cause
- Effect
Portes (2000) wrote about two meanings of Social Capital:
, - As a property of individuals (as in Bourdieu, Coleman & Putnam, 2000): “Social capital
became defined as (1) a source of social control, (2) a source of family-mediated benefits, and
(3) a source of resources mediated by nonfamily networks.” (ibid.: 2).
- As a property of collectivities (as in Putnam, 1993, 1995)
Portes (2000) is very critical of social capital as a property of communities because of:
- Contradictions between social capital at the individual level and social capital at the collective
level;
- The cause and effect of social capital as an individual and collective property are not
distinguished;
- Little research on alternative explanations (catch-all explanation).
What is questions are...
According to philosopher of science Popper (1972):
- Pseudo-science, because.... questions aren’t falsifiable by testing;
- These are unproductive questions;
- Therefore: avoid endless debates about definitions of words.
Use therefore:
RADBOUD UNIVERSITY NIJMEGEN
Inhoud
Lecture 1 (11-4): Founders and foundations...........................................................................................1
Lecture 2 (13-4): micro questions about inequality and mobility...........................................................7
Lecture 3 (18-4): micro questions about inter-generational mobility...................................................13
Lecture 4 (20-4): From micro to macro questions, from friends to enemies… and back again.............19
Lecture 5: Macro questions about changes in social cohesion via cohorts...........................................24
Lecture 6 (10-5): from dys- or utopia to nuanced views on online social capital..................................31
Lecture 7 (11-5): macro-micro explanations and mediating mechanisms............................................37
Lecture 8 (16-5): From bowling alone to bowling together..................................................................44
Lecture 1 (11-4): Founders and foundations
What is Social Capital?
What are the main components? All kind of elements that are probably related to social capital:
- contact with family?
- contact with neighbours and friends?
- helping a classmate move house?
- giving someone directions? helping someone you bump into on the street?
- online friends?
- organizations, a student association?
- trust?
As Bourdieu (1986) said,…:
Economic capital: accumulated property rights, immediately and directly convertible into money.
Example: luxury goods, houses, money
Cultural capital: educational qualifications that can be converted into money. Example: certificats,
graduate, paintings
Social capital: social obligations or ties.
- “... the aggregate of the actual or potential resources which are linked to possession of a
durable network of more or less institutionalized relationships of mutual acquaintance and
recognition, i.e., membership in a group which provides backing of the collectivity-owned
capital...” (p. 51)
Definition of Bourdieu: Stock of social capital per individual: sum of mobilizable network
connections, each with its own economic and cultural capital.
,Social capital is the outcome of instrumental, (sub)conscious, individual or collective investments in
the build-up and maintenance of social relationships with an eye on expected future returns.
Social (and cultural) capital is interchangeable; but is based on and derived from economic capital.
What is social capital Coleman (1988)
Rational Action paradigm in the study of social systems:
- Sociology sees individuals as socialized actors, without goals, without an “engine for action”.
- Economics sees individuals as having a goal: utility maximalization, but overlooks that human
actions are shaped and constrained by the social context.
“Social capital is defined by its function. It is ...a variety of different entities, with two elements in
common: they all consist of some aspect of social structures, and they facilitate certain actions of
actors ... within the structure. ...Social capital inheres in the structure of relations between actors and
among actors... Social capital comes about through changes in the relations among persons that
facilitate action” (p. S98/S100).
A vague definition: social relations that facilitate behaviour. Both the resources themselves and the
way they are obtained fall under it, but are not as sharply differentiated as by Bourdieu.
Definition quickly leads to tautology in which social capital is equated with the resources obtained.
Coleman differences three forms of social capital:
- (1) Obligations, reciprocal expectations and trustworthiness of networks;
- (2) Information channels via social relations in networks;
o If you have a good network with other scholars as a scientist, then it’s not necessary to
read every paper about your research (?)
- (3) Social norms for the sake of collective (rather than individual) interests.
In 1 and 3, “social closure” plays a large role: In closed networks more “social capital” can be
produced than in open networks.
In the left figure (a): If person A would cheat on B, it has
no further problems to D, because person D doesn’t know
D so there is no problem. The same with D and E
Social capital consists of social relations/networks that can be characterized as a “public good/social
resource”. (unlike financial, physical and human capital, which are individual resources).
- Returns, including for those who don’t invest (externalities);
, - Losses, including for those who do invest.
No role for economic or cultural capital?
There is interest in relationships between the social capital of parents and the human capital
(education) of their children.
What is social capital? Putman (2000)
“whereas physical and human capital refers to properties of individuals ...Social capital refers to
connections among individuals – social networks and the norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness
that arise from them.” (Putnam, 2000; p. 19 etc.).
- Note: connections among individuals social networks are, according to Putnam
(implicitly), lasting connections within “associations”, in other words, “civic organizations”:
more or less formally-organized associations of volunteers.
- So, according to Putnam (2000):
o Individuals have/maintain Social Relationships (via (formal) networks),
o Based on Norms of Reciprocity,
o from which mutual Trustworthiness arises.
o But in earlier studies (Putnam, 1993, 1995):
o Social capital is a ...stock possessed by communities and even nations and the
consequent structural effects on their development...
o But in later studies (Putnam, 2007):
o Mean and lean definition: social networks and the associated norms of reciprocity
and trustworthiness
What is social capital?
Social Capital is thus:
- Ambiguous
- Diverse
- Described at various levels
- Cause
- Effect
Portes (2000) wrote about two meanings of Social Capital:
, - As a property of individuals (as in Bourdieu, Coleman & Putnam, 2000): “Social capital
became defined as (1) a source of social control, (2) a source of family-mediated benefits, and
(3) a source of resources mediated by nonfamily networks.” (ibid.: 2).
- As a property of collectivities (as in Putnam, 1993, 1995)
Portes (2000) is very critical of social capital as a property of communities because of:
- Contradictions between social capital at the individual level and social capital at the collective
level;
- The cause and effect of social capital as an individual and collective property are not
distinguished;
- Little research on alternative explanations (catch-all explanation).
What is questions are...
According to philosopher of science Popper (1972):
- Pseudo-science, because.... questions aren’t falsifiable by testing;
- These are unproductive questions;
- Therefore: avoid endless debates about definitions of words.
Use therefore:
