There are many different theoretical approaches to social capital that have produced different conceptual understandings of the concept. This category explores these different theoretical positions and how social capital is understood from different perspectives.
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 …
What is high and low, and positive and negative social capital? Read More »
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.
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.
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 …
The difference between social capital and cultural capital Read More »
The different types of social capital are typically defined as structural social capital, cognitive social capital, and relational social capital. Another common categorisation of social capital is the following types: bonding social capital, bridging social capital, and linking social capital. The taxonomic refinements have been described as types of social capital, as forms of social …
There are several dichotomies for classifying types of social capital. There are two main classifications for social capital: Network perspective From a network perspective social capital can be classified as either bonding or bridging with a third type suggested as linking. Bonding social capital – ties between individuals with a relatively high degree of network …
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The International Social Capital Association is an international non-profit member-based association devoted to advancing the research on and the application of the social capital concept for the benefit of all.
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