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Some aspects of social capital are dynamic and highly changeable while other aspects change more slowly and are rooted in history and culture. An understanding of social capital can allow us to change it by building or improving it, but we must also be careful not to damage social capital.
You may have read about the decline of social capital that has been bandied about in academic literature and political rhetoric. While this echoes the concerns of many people about modern society, much of the interest in this topic comes from Robert Putnam’s book Bowling Alone. In his book, Putnam argued that the United States […]
Social capital can be very easily destroyed. It can take a long time to build social capital through repeat positive actions and interactions, but it can be destroyed by a single action. Generally social capital is lost or damaged by anything that reduces feelings of goodwill or disrupts networks. Any action that is antisocial. Anything […]
To build social capital means to improve social structures and social attitudes, values and behaviours. Building social capital means different things at different levels. At the individual level building social capital involves the actions and intentions of the individual. At the societal level building social capital relates to social structure and organisation which tends to […]