SOCIAL CAPITAL:

BENEFITS OF HUMAN SOCIABILITY

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We provide training, research and reporting, facilitation and presentation services in relation to social capital, particularly for organisations

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Guide to Social Capital

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AN INTRIGUING INTEGRATION OF SOCIOLOGY & ECONOMICS

Social capital is fundamentally about how people interact with each other, how they work together, share, help, and collaborate. 

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SOCIAL CAPITAL & ORGANISATIONAL CULTURE

The core of our business is working with organisations that would like to improve their social capital and organisational culture.

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Latest Articles

Social capital in the formation of local institutions and their contribution to territorial governance

December 14, 2020

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Why is social capital important?

How isn’t it? Social capital is entwined in so much of our lives without us being aware of it. However, the more we are aware of it’s importance, the more we are likely to see it’s benefits. 

Working together

Without social capital humans could not work together. This is because social capital is the shared values, norms, trust, and belonging that make social exchange possible.

Better leadership

An understanding of social capital improves leadership capabilities. It can support the improvement of organizational culture because it considers factors often overlooked.

It's capital

A lot of attention is paid to financial capital, human capital, natural capital etc. All forms of capital have benefits to an organization but some are often not given their due attention. Ignoring social capital can exacerbate issues within your organization.

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Social Capital Research

Social Capital Research
Until the past half-century, all agriculture and land management was framed by local institutions strong in social capital. But neo-liberal forms of development came to undermine existing structures, thus reducing sustainability and equity. The past 20 years, though, have seen the deliberate establishment of more than eight million new social groups across the world. These groups focus on 1) integrated pest management; 2) forests; 3) land; 4) water; 5) pastures; 6) support services; 7) innovation platforms; 8) small-scale systems. We show across 122 initiatives in 55 countries that the number of groups has grown from 0.5M (at 2000) to 8.54M (2020). The area of land transformed by the 170-255M group members is 300 Mha, mostly in less-developed countries (98% groups; 94% area). Farmers and land managers working with scientists and extensionists in these groups have improved both environmental outcomes and agricultural productivity. In some cases, changes to national or regional policy supported this growth in groups. Together with other movements, these social groups could now support further transitions towards policies and behaviours for global sustainability and better health. Major challenges remain on the four interlocking modern crises arising from the ills of affluence: climate, biodiversity loss, inequality and the major non-communicable diseases. But dropping old habits is hard. There are paths, but many seem to lead into a dark forest. We have choices, and a good life might not cost the earth if it can build on collective action and form social capital. Jules Pretty is Professor of Environment and Society at the University of Essex, and Director of the Centre for Public and Policy Engagement. He is formerly Deputy Vice-Chancellor (2010-19). His sole-authored books include Sea Sagas of the North (forthcoming, 2022), Green Minds and a Good Life (forthcoming, 2022), The East Country (2017), The Edge of Extinction (2014), This Luminous Coast (2011, 2014), The Earth Only Endures (2007), Agri-Culture (2002) and Regenerating Agriculture (1995). He is a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology and the Royal Society of Arts, former Deputy-Chair of the UK government’s Advisory Committee on Releases to the Environment, and has served on advisory committees for BBSRC and the Royal Society. He was presenter of the 1999 BBC Radio 4 series Ploughing Eden, a contributor and writer for the 2001 BBC TV Correspondent programme The Magic Bean, and a panellist in 2007 for Radio 4’s The Moral Maze. He received a 1997 award from the Indian Ecological Society, was appointed A D White Professor-at-Large by Cornell University from 2001, and is Chief & Founding Editor of the International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability. He received an OBE in 2006 for services to sustainable agriculture, an honorary degree from Ohio State University in 2009, and the British Science Association Presidential Medal (Agriculture and Food) in 2015. He is currently a trustee for WWF-UK, and was appointed President of Essex Wildlife Trust in 2019. This Luminous Coast was winner of New Angle Prize for Literature in 2013, and The East Country was winner of the East Anglian book of the year in 2018. He is among the top 1% most cited scientists in the world, and is co-host of the podcast Louder Than Words. Research bibliometrics: h-index 98, 59.6k citations (Google Scholar); h-index 53 (SciVal)) The webinar was on Friday November 26, 2021 and was part of the regular webinar sessions held by Social Capital Research https://www.socialcapitalresearch.com/ as part of the Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/socialcapitalresearch and LinkedIn group https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13975650/
Professor Jules Pretty: Social Capital and The Ills of Affluence
YouTube Video UC6NOu8v0Oe8xaLn4UK9s36g_0N9wn9u02us
The word “capital” originally referred to financial resources invested in the production of greater financial resources. It has been gradually extended to other kinds of resources. These have included the skills, training, and knowledge of individuals, social groups or political entities (human capital); cultural traits that lead to desirable outcomes (cultural capital); and qualities of sets of people that result in advantages either for the sets themselves or the individuals in them (the most common senses of “social capital”). What do these uses of “capital” have in common and what differentiates them? If one thinks of capital as any set of assets that can produce profitable outcomes, then it makes sense to talk about skills, training, or knowledge or about cultural values or forms of interpersonal relations as “capital.” Indeed, financial assets alone can only result in profits within cultural and interpersonal environments. But social capital clearly differs in a number of ways from financial capital. The latter comes in identifiable amounts. Although social scientists have proposed various ways of quantifying social capital, it does not come in obvious countable units, such as dollars or Euros. Authors often define what social capital is in varying ways, with some essentially considering it as synonymous with cultural capital or some particular cultural value (such as trust), while others define it in terms of interpersonal networks of control and support. A co-author and I have argued that one special problem in social capital theory is that the production of desirable outcomes from interpersonal relations or values is a matter of process, rather than a matter of the investment of countable assets. If social capital involves characteristics of social groups that result in profitable outcomes, when should we regard an outcome as profitable? This webinar will deal with the theoretical problems involved in thinking about social relations as investable assets and attempt to explore what social capital does and does not have in common with the tradition idea of financial capital. Carl L. Bankston III is professor of sociology at Tulane University. His most recent books include American Ideas of Equality: A Social History, 1750-2020 (Cambria, 2021), The Rise of the New Second Generation (with Min Zhou; Polity, 2016); and Immigrant Networks and Social Capital (Polity, 2014). His research interests include international migration, sociology of education, stratification, historical sociology, and sociology of religion. Social capital theory has consistently been a dominant theoretical framework across all of these areas. The webinar was on Friday November 19, 2021 and was part of the regular webinar sessions held by Social Capital Research https://www.socialcapitalresearch.com/ as part of the Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/socialcapitalresearch and LinkedIn group https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13975650/
Professor Carl L. Bankston III: In What Sense is Social Capital “Capital”?
YouTube Video UC6NOu8v0Oe8xaLn4UK9s36g_D4Xdc6buysA
The word “capital” originally referred to financial resources invested in the production of greater financial resources. It has been gradually extended to other kinds of resources. These have included the skills, training, and knowledge of individuals, social groups or political entities (human capital); cultural traits that lead to desirable outcomes (cultural capital); and qualities of sets of people that result in advantages either for the sets themselves or the individuals in them (the most common senses of “social capital”). What do these uses of “capital” have in common and what differentiates them? If one thinks of capital as any set of assets that can produce profitable outcomes, then it makes sense to talk about skills, training, or knowledge or about cultural values or forms of interpersonal relations as “capital.” Indeed, financial assets alone can only result in profits within cultural and interpersonal environments. But social capital clearly differs in a number of ways from financial capital. The latter comes in identifiable amounts. Although social scientists have proposed various ways of quantifying social capital, it does not come in obvious countable units, such as dollars or Euros. Authors often define what social capital is in varying ways, with some essentially considering it as synonymous with cultural capital or some particular cultural value (such as trust), while others define it in terms of interpersonal networks of control and support. A co-author and I have argued that one special problem in social capital theory is that the production of desirable outcomes from interpersonal relations or values is a matter of process, rather than a matter of the investment of countable assets. If social capital involves characteristics of social groups that result in profitable outcomes, when should we regard an outcome as profitable? This webinar will deal with the theoretical problems involved in thinking about social relations as investable assets and attempt to explore what social capital does and does not have in common with the tradition idea of financial capital. Carl L. Bankston III is professor of sociology at Tulane University. His most recent books include American Ideas of Equality: A Social History, 1750-2020 (Cambria, 2021), The Rise of the New Second Generation (with Min Zhou; Polity, 2016); and Immigrant Networks and Social Capital (Polity, 2014). His research interests include international migration, sociology of education, stratification, historical sociology, and sociology of religion. Social capital theory has consistently been a dominant theoretical framework across all of these areas. The webinar was on Friday November 19, 2021 and was part of the regular webinar sessions held by Social Capital Research https://www.socialcapitalresearch.com/ as part of the Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/socialcapitalresearch and LinkedIn group https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13975650/
Professor Carl L. Bankston III: In What Sense is Social Capital “Capital”?
YouTube Video UC6NOu8v0Oe8xaLn4UK9s36g_gQF1oqZZz7Q
Social capital is often considered as beneficial to mental health and has been targeted for community-based health promotion initiatives. However, recent evidence suggests that the relationship between social capital and mental health is more nuanced: social capital can be simultaneously beneficial and detrimental within communities. This presentation will first explore the current scientific knowledge on social capital, social capital interventions, and how they are approached in mental health promotion. It will draw from existing literature and examples from case studies to highlight the complexity of promoting social capital for mental health within specific communities, and how building social capital for some groups may have unintended consequences for others. Overall, it will question how social capital can contribute to and overcome mental health-related inequities, and will conclude by suggesting ways to improve current research and practice. Dr. Annahita (Anna) Ehsan is a social scientist who uses multiple and mixed-methods to understand social inequalities and health. She is particularly interested in how social relationships play a role in health promotion, and how community interventions both reduce and reproduce health inequalities. She works directly with existing interventions to improve monitoring and evaluation, and uses integrated knowledge transfer to benefit practice. The webinar was on Friday November 12, 2021 and was part of the regular webinar sessions held by Social Capital Research https://www.socialcapitalresearch.com/ as part of the Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/socialcapitalresearch and LinkedIn group https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13975650/
Dr Annahita Ehsan: Social Capital and Community Mental Health Promotion
YouTube Video UC6NOu8v0Oe8xaLn4UK9s36g_YHjrgAQwImo
In this webinar, Professor Troy Glover from the University of Waterloo gives a presentation that seeks to understand the conceptual pathways associated with endogenous and exogenous social capital at the micro level. Social capital can be endogenous insofar as it originates from within social networks or exogenous insofar as it derives from sources outside of immediate social networks. The endogenous pathway to social capital shows how tangible, more durable relationships produce social capital, while the exogenous pathway shows how social capital arises in fleeting experiences among members of an imagined community. In fleshing out these social processes, the presentation aims to provide greater conceptual rigor to our understanding of how social capital forms and how social capital facilitates action. The webinar was on Friday October 29, 2021 and was part of the regular webinar sessions held by Social Capital Research https://www.socialcapitalresearch.com/ as part of the Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/socialcapitalresearch and LinkedIn group https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13975650/
Professor Troy Glover: Exploring the Endogenous and Exogenous Pathways of Social Capital
YouTube Video UC6NOu8v0Oe8xaLn4UK9s36g_PKGoKzSpjSM
In this webinar, Dr Trent Engbers from the University of Southern Indiana will discuss putting the capital in social capital. Given the proliferation of research and interest in social capital over the past decades, it is easy to lose track that a fundamental aspect of social capital is “capital”. As the concept of social capital has evolved to include elements of civic participation, norms of trust and reciprocity, and shared community norms and values; it is easy to lose track that a defining element of social capital is that it is a form of capital that can be used to productive use. This webinar will seek to achieve two goals. First, it will examine the empirical and conceptual dynamics of “capital-centered” social capital research. Second, it will explain how theoretical understandings of social capital impact utilitarian ends. Special attention will be directed to how social capital contributes to economic enterprises and the complex role of social capital in economic development. Empirical research on social capital and economic development in a range of contexts will be discussed with a goal of informing management and public policy. The webinar was on Friday October 1, 2021 and was part of the regular webinar sessions held by Social Capital Research https://www.socialcapitalresearch.com/ as part of the Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/socialcapitalresearch and LinkedIn group https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13975650/
Dr Trent Engbers: Putting the Capital in Social Capital
YouTube Video UC6NOu8v0Oe8xaLn4UK9s36g_Lf4Jabxfel4
In this webinar, Professor Robison will reflect on his more than 35 years of research on social capital and propose a new line of inquiry that could allow for alternative explanations of predictably irrational behavior. He will employ Social Identity Theory to help us understand the relationship between social capital and cheap social capital. Professor Robison will also discuss the difference between earned and inherited commonality and their relationship to linking and bonding social capital. By considering social identity and inclusion and exclusion, Professor Robison is able to consider a side of social capital that is often overlooked or underappreciated. He discusses these ideas in relation to a range of real-world examples and proposes several directions for future research in this area. The webinar was on Friday September 17, 2021 and was part of the regular webinar sessions held by Social Capital Research https://www.socialcapitalresearch.com/ as part of the Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/socialcapitalresearch and LinkedIn group https://www.linkedin.com/groups/13975650/
Professor Lindon J. Robison: High Cost of Cheap Social Capital
YouTube Video UC6NOu8v0Oe8xaLn4UK9s36g_4rLrIgdJuk4
In this webinar, Dr Rick Mask will examine the constructs of Relational Capital, Cognitive Capital, and Structural Capital. We will review how these three constructs form social capital and how cognitive bias can impact social capital creation. We will then cover the five practices of exemplary leadership covered in “The Leadership Challenge” and note how these five practices tie into the constructs of social capital. The webinar was on Thursday July 22, 2021 and was part of the regular webinar sessions held by Social Capital Research https://www.socialcapitalresearch.com/ as part of the Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/socialcapitalresearch
Dr Rick L. Mask: Leadership through Social Capital
YouTube Video UC6NOu8v0Oe8xaLn4UK9s36g_Fz7LOpGuzwo
In this webinar, Professor Daniel Aldrich discusses The Role of Social Ties in Shocks and Crises. The 11 March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and associated tsunami and nuclear meltdowns took nearly 20,000 lives, created half a million refugees, and affected energy policies as far away as Germany, Switzerland, and Italy. In Japan, mortality rates in coastal communities in the Tohoku region were not constant; instead, they varied widely from town to town. During the recovery period, some towns have rebuilt damaged infrastructure, reopened schools, and repopulated downtowns. Others have not been as successful. Finally, mental health and anxiety levels have varied across those forced to flee from the Fukushima nuclear disaster. What explains the variation in mortality, recovery and mental health during the tsunami and recovery after the disaster? Using data gathered from fieldwork, interviews, and surveys, Aldrich looks closely at the role of social capital and networks to provide concrete suggestions for ways to help us survive and thrive in disaster. While many of us envision disaster mitigation in terms of physical infrastructure, the findings instead point to the power of social infrastructure to reduce mortality and accelerate post disaster recovery. The webinar was on Friday July 9, 2021 and was part of the regular webinar sessions held by Social Capital Research https://www.socialcapitalresearch.com/ as part of the Facebook group https://www.facebook.com/groups/socialcapitalresearch
Prof. Daniel Aldrich - The Role of Social Ties in Shocks and Crises
YouTube Video UC6NOu8v0Oe8xaLn4UK9s36g_KrigZEcL77Y
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Academic interest in social capital

Over the last three decades the concept of social capital has swept across the social sciences, into the physical sciences, and virtually every area of academic enquiry. It has been adopted outside of academia; in politics, business, and international development, to name a few. But some people have suggested that its popularity is in decline. The data, however, does not support this view.

This short video illustrates the rise of social capital in different fields using data from the Web of Science database. It shows how the number of publications on social capital has increased in each field over time.

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