03 Feb 2020

China’s Social Credit System An ambitious attempt to build social capital

China is developing a social credit system (SCS), a national reputation system that aims to promote the traditional virtues of integrity, discourage dishonesty, and build an environment of trust. The SCS will utilise big-data enabled surveillance infrastructure to manage, monitor, and predict the trustworthiness of citizens, firms, organizations, and governments. The scheme has attracted

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19 Jan 2020

Social capital and poverty alleviation

Social capital is a vital asset for those in poverty since it can provide access to that which is lacking: capital. Poverty is a state or condition in which a person or community lacks the capital required to meet their needs. Clearly the poor would benefit from more of all forms of capital. However, social […]

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19 Oct 2019

Solving sustainability with social capital? A paradoxical reframing of modernity?

In 1962 Rachel Carson published the book Silent Spring which thrust environmental problems into public awareness and is widely credited with inspiring the environmental movement. Yet nearly 60 years later it doesn’t seem there has been much progress towards sustainability. There has been extensive scientific investigation of environmental issues and leading scientists have twice (1992 […]

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27 Sep 2019

Sources of Social Capital What causes or creates social capital?

Much of the literature on social capital poorly distinguishes its source from its form and consequences. It can be very difficult to make these distinctions since many social phenomena involve complex interrelationships with complicated cyclic, relational, and mutual causality. This article discusses a wide range of sources of social capital, some of which may represent […]

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26 Sep 2019

Call for Papers: Social Capital and Development: A Contested Relationship

Chiara Pierobon PhD (Universität Bielefeld) and Lilian Tauber (Durham University) are seeking to relaunch the academic debate about the relevance of social capital theory to development. This call for papers invites researchers and practitioners to submit their paper proposal (between 1,000 and 2,000 words) by October 31, 2019.  The papers will be collected for a special […]

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23 Sep 2019

The promise of social capital theory Or the dominance of economic discourse and triumph of capitalism?

Social capital theory has been heralded as a very important conceptual innovation. It emphasises social dimensions that have typically been marginalised by the dominant paradigm of individualism and economic rationalism. It helps to reverse the undersocialised view that assumes that humans are rational and self-interested, and largely beyond the influence of social factors. This classical

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19 Sep 2019

Social capital in economics

For economists, the term ‘social capital’ allows for the consideration of social factors that are normally beyond the purview of economic analysis. Despite their intangible nature, economists since at least David Hume and Adam Smith have been interested in the role of social factors such as trust, reputation, norms and belonging in economic outcomes. These […]

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