Ronald S. Burt - Social capital : theory and research

Published 2017 by Routledge

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Copyright 2001 by Taylor & Francis.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Social capital: theory and research / edited by Nan Lin, Karen Cook, Ronald S. Burt.

p. cm.(Sociology and economics)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 0-202-30643-7 (cloth: alk. paper)ISBN 0-202-30644-5 (pbk: alk. paper)

1. Social networks. 2. Social structure. I. Lin, Nan, 1938-. II. Cook, Karen S. III. Burt, Ronald S. IV. Series.

HM741.S628 2001

306.3dc2l

00-052396

ISBN 13: 978-0-202-30644-5 (pbk)

ISBN 13: 978-0-202-30643-8 (hbk)

Social capital as both concept and theory has drawn much intellectual interest and research in the past two decades. The attraction of the notion is perhaps in part due to the common understanding that as a social element, it may capture the essence of many sociological concepts (e.g., social support, social integration, social cohesion, and even norms and values) and serve as an umbrella term that can easily be understood and transported across many disciplines. It may also be due to the appreciation that as capital, it shares commonalities with other forms of capital (notably human capital) in its focus on a payoff or utility. Intellectually and as a counterpoint theory to human capital, it excites scholars, especially sociologists, who have explored other useful concepts in capturing the elements or resources embedded in social structures and networks rather than in individuals. Since it shares human capitals utilitarian aspect (capital), these scholars see it as providing the necessary basis of a common language for analyzing capitalization (investment and production) of social- and individual-based resources for certain utilitarian outcomes. Still others, especially those engaged in policy analysis and decision making, find in social capital a potential policy leverage: if human capital can be manipulated for the good of individuals and society, perhaps social capital can be as well.

These attractions have also resulted in a multitude of perspectives (e.g., is social capital a collective or individual asset?), definitions (is it community participation, social networks, or trust?), theoretical propositions (are closed or open networks better?), and emphases (can social capital operate in economic activities and organizations? Can it work in different social and institutional contexts?). In fact, there is a looming danger that the free flow of understanding, application, and interpretation of social capital may soon reach a point where the term might be used in whatever way it suits the purpose at hand, and thus be rendered meaningless as a scientific concept that must meet the rigorous demands of theoretical and research validity and reliability. Without a shared perspective, systematic operationalization, and programmatic studies, social capital may be in danger of becoming one of many fads and fashions that come and go in sciences and social sciences, and ultimately be abandoned for its lack of distinctive features and contributions to the scientific knowledge.

To address some of these issues and exchange research information, we organized an international conference on social capital held in October-November 1998 at Duke University. We invited speakers who in our judgment were conducting significant work on social capital, and over 150 scholars and professionals participated in the three-day event. In the subsequent year and a half, we have asked a number of the presenters to revise and update their presentations; the current volume is the outcome of this collective effort.

This volume investigates social capital from a social-network perspective and provides a forum for ongoing research programs initiated by some sociologists. These scholars and programs share certain understandings and approaches in their analyses of social capital. First, they argue that social networks are the foundation of social capital. Social networks simultaneously capture individuals and social structure, thus serving as a vital conceptual link between actions and structural constraints, between micro-and macrolevel analyses, and between relational and collective dynamic processes. Second, they are cognizant of the dual significance of the structural features of the social networks and the resources embedded in the networks as defining elements of social capital. Trying to reflect these elements in the conceptualization and operationalization of social capital, these scholars work forms a common, although by no means uniform, basis for constructing and building knowledge about social capital. Third, they analyze the precedents as well as consequences of social capital. For them, social capital not only serves as an exogenous force, leading to certain outcomes, but more importantly is itself the consequence of other exogenous and dynamic forces. Specifically, these scholars focus on structural features in the political economy, the society, the community, and the organizations which may account for the formation and distribution of social capital. Fourth, these scholars share the commitment that research on social capital must be a multimethod, multilevel, and multisite enterprise. The variety of methodologies employed (ranging from case studies to multilevel analysis) and the global nature of the research enterprise (works conducted in the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, Hungary, mainland China, and Taiwan) highlight the shared interest in and sensitivity to the multimethod approach to validating hypotheses and in the contingent nature of findings.

The volume is divided into three parts. clarifies social capital as a concept and explores its theoretical and operational bases. Lin, in the initial essay, provides a brief account that places the development of social capital in the context of the family of capital theorists, and identifies some critical but controversial perspectives and statements regarding social capital in the literature. It makes the argument for the network perspective: why and how such a perspective can clarify controversies and advance our understanding of a whole range of instrumental and expressive outcomes.