What is high and low, and positive and negative social capital?

We often talk about social capital in general terms, describing it as high or low, good or bad, positive or negative, or weak or strong. But social capital is complex and multidimensional. Does it make sense to talk about social capital in general terms, and what do we mean by these general terms? It is …

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The High Cost of Cheap Social Capital

This paper briefly reviews the theory of social, negative, and cheap social capital and then explains the popularity and the high cost of cheap social capital. Next, this paper points out that our voluntary exchanges (which are enabled by prospects of mutual gain) and the high cost of involuntary exchanges (which are entered into in response to threats and defensive and destructive acts) both reflect our responses to the same physical and socio-emotional needs. Therefore, what differentiates our responses to similar needs are the relationships we have with others—whether they are social, negative, or cheap. Finally, this paper offers some suggestions for avoiding the high cost of cheap social capital.

The Cheap Side of Social Capital

Earned, inherited, and covenant commonalities enable persons and groups of people to develop sympathy and empathy for each other. The sympathy and empathy that one person or group has for another person or group is defined here as social capital. The absence of commonalities often results in relationships of apathy and antipathy that one person or group has for another person or group, defined here as negative social capital. People and groups that share negative social capital for the same person or group can form cheap social capital relationships characterized by the couplet—the enemy of my enemy is my strange bedfellow.

Social Policy in Changing European Societies – Book Review

Social Policy in Changing European Societies: Research Agendas for the 21st Century Hardcover: 328 pages Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing Year: 2022 Language: English Edited By: Kenneth Nelson, Full Professor of Sociology, Swedish Institute for Social Research (SOFI), Stockholm University, Sweden Rense Nieuwenhuis, Associate Professor of Sociology, Swedish Institute for Social Research (SOFI), Stockholm University, Sweden …

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Handbook on Participatory Action Research and Community Development – Book Review

Handbook on Participatory Action Research and Community Development Hardcover: 480 pages Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing Year: 2022 Language: English Edited by Randy Stoecker, Professor and Director of the Applied Population Laboratory, Department of Community and Environmental Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison Adrienne Falcón, Professor and Director of the Masters of Advocacy and Political Leadership, Chair of …

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Handbook of Sociological Science: Contributions to Rigorous Sociology – Book Review

Handbook of Sociological Science: Contributions to Rigorous Sociology Rethinking Sociology series Hardcover: 552 pages Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing Year: 2022 Language: English Edited by Klarita Gërxhani, Professor of Sociology, Department of Political and Social Sciences, European University Institute (EUI), Italy Nan Dirk de Graaf, Professor of Sociology and Official Fellow, Nuffield College, University of Oxford, …

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Handbook on Urban Social Policies – Book Review

Handbook on Urban Social Policies International Perspectives on Multilevel Governance and Local Welfare Hardcover: 480 pages Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing Year: 2022 Language: English Edited By: Yuri Kazepov, Professor of Urban Sociology, University of Vienna, Austria, Eduardo Barberis, Associate Professor of Sociology, Department of Economics, Society and Politics, University of Urbino Carlo Bo, Italy, Roberta …

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Rethinking Social Capital – Book Review

Rethinking Social Capital Rethinking Sociology series Hardcover: 192 pages Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing Year: 2022 Language: English By: Carl L. Bankston III, Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology, School of Liberal Arts, Tulane University, US Combining theoretical approaches with practical applications, Rethinking Social Capital delineates the meaning, uses, and problems surrounding the concept of social …

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Introduction to Social Capital for Researchers

Webinar This session provides a foundation for understanding what social capital is, where it comes from, and what it does as well as some of the challenges of reading the literature and conducting research on social capital. The session is designed to kick-start your social capital research or to help you with your existing research. …

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The difference between social capital and cultural capital

The concepts of social capital and cultural capital are similar and overlap in some significant ways depending on the meaning attributed to each concept. Cultural capital has at least two different meanings, and social capital has a multiplicity of definitions that can be grouped into at least four different broad groups. From the most popular …

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