22 Apr 2020

New Zealand’s pandemic response: solidarity in a post-truth world

New Zealand’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has been distinctly different to many developed countries that have been plagued by inaction, divisiveness, misinformation, blame and deflection. New Zealand has shown remarkable community cohesion and solidarity and has unified behind the shared goal of eliminating COVID-19 from the country.  Post-truth politics creates a divided and fragmented

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12 Apr 2020

Individual social capital and COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has created unprecedented interruption to physical social interaction. A significant proportion of the world’s population is in some form of isolation or lockdown, with limited access to normal social activities. This has serious implications for social capital which is primarily built, maintained and realised by social interaction. Social capital is linked to […]

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30 Mar 2020

What is social capitalism?

Social capitalism is any capitalist system that is structured with the ideology of liberty, equality, and justice. Instead of aiming to accumulate only economic forms of capital, it explicitly values all forms of capital, including social capital, human capital, and natural capital. Instead of maximising profit for the 1%, it involves profit maximisation for all […]

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18 Mar 2020

Social connection and the COVID-19 pandemic Impacts on social capital

With the World Health Organization (WHO) declaring COVID-19 a pandemic, many people are now facing the prospect of various forms of social isolation in the immediate future. People are being encouraged to maintain physical distance from others to limit the spread of the virus. Some countries have implemented lockdowns that include banning public gatherings, cancelling […]

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17 Mar 2020

Social isolation during a pandemic Challenges and opportunities during COVID-19 lockdown

There are significant barriers to the effective adoption of technology to alleviate social isolation resulting from COVID-19 ‘social distancing’, particularly among those people who were already socially isolated. The barriers most cited in the literature on the use of technology to remedy social isolation are (i) lack of support and training to use technology, (ii) […]

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14 Mar 2020

Rational Choice Sociology: Essays on Theory, Collective Action and Social Order – Book Review

Rational Choice Sociology: Essays on Theory, Collective Action and Social Order Hardcover: 384 pages Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing Year: 2019 Language: English Edited by Michael Hechter, Foundation Professor, School of Politics and Global Studies, Arizona State University and Emeritus Professor of Sociology, University of Washington, US Rational Choice Sociology shows that despite the

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06 Mar 2020

The Relational Nordic Welfare State: Between Utopia and Ideology – Book Review

The Relational Nordic Welfare State: Between Utopia and Ideology Hardcover: 288 pages Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing Year: 2019 Language: English Edited by Sakari Hänninen, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Finland Kirsi-Marja Lehtelä, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Finland Paula Saikkonen, National Institute for Health and Welfare, Finland The success of the Nordic

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03 Mar 2020

Social Capital, Social Support and Stratification – Book Review

Social Capital, Social Support and Stratification: An Analysis of the Sociology of Nan Lin Hardcover: 272 pages Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing Year: 2019 Language: English Edited by Ronald S. Burt, Booth School of Business, University of Chicago, Yanjie Bian, Department of Sociology, University of Minnesota, Lijun Song, Department of Sociology, Vanderbilt University Nan Lin, Department

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