Active Social Capital

Active Social Capital PDF Author: Anirudh Krishna
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 9780231125703
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
The idea of social capital allows scholars to assess the quality of relationships among people within a particular community and show how that quality affects the ability to achieve shared goals. With evidence collected from sixty-nine villages in India, Krishna investigates what social capital is, how it operates in practice, and what results it can be expected to produce. Does social capital provide a viable means for advancing economic development, promoting ethnic peace, and strengthening democratic governance? The world is richer than ever before, but more than a fifth of its people are poor and miserable. Civil wars and ethnic strife continue to mar prospects for peace. Democracy is in place in most countries, but large numbers of citizens do not benefit from it. How can development, peace and democracy become more fruitful for the ordinary citizen? This book shows how social capital is a crucial dimension of any solution to these problems.

Active Social Capital

Active Social Capital PDF Author: Anirudh Krishna
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 9780231125703
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 276

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Book Description
The idea of social capital allows scholars to assess the quality of relationships among people within a particular community and show how that quality affects the ability to achieve shared goals. With evidence collected from sixty-nine villages in India, Krishna investigates what social capital is, how it operates in practice, and what results it can be expected to produce. Does social capital provide a viable means for advancing economic development, promoting ethnic peace, and strengthening democratic governance? The world is richer than ever before, but more than a fifth of its people are poor and miserable. Civil wars and ethnic strife continue to mar prospects for peace. Democracy is in place in most countries, but large numbers of citizens do not benefit from it. How can development, peace and democracy become more fruitful for the ordinary citizen? This book shows how social capital is a crucial dimension of any solution to these problems.

Social Capital

Social Capital PDF Author: John Field
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134516916
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 174

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Book Description
The term 'social capital' is a way of conceptualizing the intangible resources of community, shared values and trust upon which we draw in daily life. It has achieved considerable currency in the social sciences through the very different work of Bourdieu in France, and James Coleman and Robert Putnam in the States, and has been taken up within politics and sociology as a means of explaining the decline of social cohesion and community values in many Western societies. This concise introduction, the only one currently available, explains the theoretical underpinning of the subject, the empirical work that has been done to explore its operation, and the effect that it has had on policy-making particularly within such international governmental bodies as the World Bank and the European Commission. With genuine cross-disciplinary appeal, this exceptional book will be of great interest to students of sociology, politics and social policy.

Bowling Alone: Revised and Updated

Bowling Alone: Revised and Updated PDF Author: Robert D. Putnam
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
ISBN: 1982130849
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 592

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Book Description
Updated to include a new chapter about the influence of social media and the Internet—the 20th anniversary edition of Bowling Alone remains a seminal work of social analysis, and its examination of what happened to our sense of community remains more relevant than ever in today’s fractured America. Twenty years, ago, Robert D. Putnam made a seemingly simple observation: once we bowled in leagues, usually after work; but no longer. This seemingly small phenomenon symbolized a significant social change that became the basis of the acclaimed bestseller, Bowling Alone, which The Washington Post called “a very important book” and Putnam, “the de Tocqueville of our generation.” Bowling Alone surveyed in detail Americans’ changing behavior over the decades, showing how we had become increasingly disconnected from family, friends, neighbors, and social structures, whether it’s with the PTA, church, clubs, political parties, or bowling leagues. In the revised edition of his classic work, Putnam shows how our shrinking access to the “social capital” that is the reward of communal activity and community sharing still poses a serious threat to our civic and personal health, and how these consequences have a new resonance for our divided country today. He includes critical new material on the pervasive influence of social media and the internet, which has introduced previously unthinkable opportunities for social connection—as well as unprecedented levels of alienation and isolation. At the time of its publication, Putnam’s then-groundbreaking work showed how social bonds are the most powerful predictor of life satisfaction, and how the loss of social capital is felt in critical ways, acting as a strong predictor of crime rates and other measures of neighborhood quality of life, and affecting our health in other ways. While the ways in which we connect, or become disconnected, have changed over the decades, his central argument remains as powerful and urgent as ever: mending our frayed social capital is key to preserving the very fabric of our society.

Social Capital and European Democracy

Social Capital and European Democracy PDF Author: Marco Maraffi
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134664265
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 396

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Book Description
The authors of this work examine the dominant view that voluntary activity promotes social capital and hence good government, but also explore alternative models for the creation of social capital. Theoretical discussion is combined with detailed case studies to provide a new explanation of : * the origins and nature of social capital * its effects on political participation and policy-making * the role of the voluntary sector Contributors go on to examine the possibility that current changes in the voluntary sector may in fact undermine social capital and consider the consequences. This book is an important step forward in this rapidly growing field of research and adds a unique European perspective to a debate which has been largely US-focussed.

Social Capital

Social Capital PDF Author: Nan Lin
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9780521521673
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 298

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Book Description
1. Theories of Capital: The Historical Foundation. 3. 2. Social Capital: Capital Captured through Social Relations. 19. 3. Resources, Hierarchy, Networks, and Homophily: The Structural Foundation. 29. 4. Resources, Motivations, and Interactions: The Action Foundation. 41. 5. The Theory and Theoretical Propositions. 55. 6. Social Capital and Status Attainment: A Research Tradition. 78. 7. Inequality in Social Capital: A Research Agenda. 99. 8. Social Capital and the Emergence of Social Structure: A Theory of Rational Choice. 127. 9. Reputation and Social Capital: The Rational Basis for Social Exchange. 143. 10. Social Capital in Hierarchical Structures. 165. 11. Institutions, Networks, and Capital Building: Societal Transformations. 184. 12. Cybernetworks and the Global Village: The Rise of Social Capital. 210. 13. The Future of the Theory. 243. . References. 251. . Index. 267.

Social Capital Online

Social Capital Online PDF Author: Kane X. Faucher
Publisher: University of Westminster Press
ISBN: 1911534572
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 195

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Book Description
What is ‘social capital’? The enormous positivity surrounding it conceals the instrumental economic rationality underpinning the notion as corporations silently sell consumer data for profit. Status chasing is just one aspect of a process of transforming qualitative aspects of social interactions into quantifiable metrics for easier processing, prediction, and behavioural shaping. A work of critical media studies, Social Capital Online examines the idea within the new ‘network spectacle’ of digital capitalism via the ideas of Marx, Veblen, Debord, Baudrillard and Deleuze. Explaining how such phenomena as online narcissism and aggression arise, Faucher offers a new theoretical understanding of how the spectacularisation of online activity perfectly aligns with the value system of neoliberalism and its data worship. Even so, at the centre of all, lie familiar ideas – alienation and accumulation – new conceptions of which he argues are vital for understanding today’s digital society.

Social Epidemiology

Social Epidemiology PDF Author: Lisa F. Berkman
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780195083316
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 428

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Book Description
This book shows the important links between social conditions and health and begins to describe the processes through which these health inequalities may be generated. It reviews a range of methodologies that could be used by health researchers in this field and proposes innovative future research directions.

Social Capital in Europe

Social Capital in Europe PDF Author: Emanuele Ferragina
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 1781000220
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 233

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Book Description
ïThis book is a must for anyone interested in the concept of social capital.Í _ Martin Seeleib-Kaiser, University of Oxford, UK ïThe quantitative survey of social capital at the regional level is an original contribution that opens a fresh geographic perspective on the literature in this field. Moving beyond the statistical representation of regional patterns the authorÍs use of case studies illuminates how local culture and historical contexts influence the manifestations of social capital. This volume breaks new ground challenging conventional analysis to advance our understanding of social capital.Í _ Neil Gilbert, University of California, Berkeley, US ïSocial Capital in Europe dismantles Robert PutnamÍs theoretical model by critically discussing the most prominent international literature in the field and by analyzing a large bulk of empirical and historical evidence. According to Putnam, the lack of social capital in the South of Italy dates back to medieval history. His ñhistorical determinismî, that seems to erase every influence of contemporary social phenomena, is largely contradicted by Ferragina.Í _ Piero Bevilacqua, University of Rome, Italy ïThe concept of social capital has enjoyed increasing vogue among social scientists. Historians have been mobilized to support the importance of this concept in various ways, and in turn they have increasingly relied on it. The historian will find in this book both a definitive guide to the theoretical debate behind this controversial concept and an impressive demonstration of how it can be used to produce comparative historical analysis.Í _ Agostino Inguscio, Yale University, US The book investigates the determinants of social capital across 85 European regions capturing the renewed interest among social capital theorists for the importance of active secondary groups in supporting the correct functioning of society and its democratic institutions. Robert Putnam merged quantitative and historical analyses, suggesting that the lack of social capital in the south of Italy was mainly due to a peculiar historical development rather than being the product of a mix of structural socio-economic factors, a conclusion that has been the subject of fierce criticism and debate. Emanuele Ferragina analyses the influence of income inequality, economic development, labour market participation and national divergence. By complementing these socio-economic explanations with a comparative historic-institutional analysis between two deviant cases (Wallonia and the south of Italy) and two regular cases (Flanders and the north east of Italy), the findings suggest that income inequality, labour market participation and national divergence are important factors in explaining the lack of social capital. Furthermore, the traditional historical determinism is refuted with the formulation of the sleeping social capital theory. Sociologists, political scientists, economic historians and scholars interested in comparative methods and European politics and policy will find this informative book invaluable.

Generating Social Capital

Generating Social Capital PDF Author: M. Hooghe
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1403979545
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 265

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Book Description
Social capital - networks of civic engagements, norms of reciprocity, and attitudes of trust - is widely seen as playing a key role for the health of democracy. While many authors have examined the consequences of social capital, there is a pressing need to explore its sources. This collection brings together leading American and European scholars in the first comparative analysis of how social trust and other civic attitudes are generated. The contributors to this volume examine the generation of social capital from two directions: society-based approaches that emphasize voluntary associations, and institutional approaches that emphasize policy.

Social Capital

Social Capital PDF Author: David Halpern
Publisher: Polity
ISBN: 0745625479
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 401

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Book Description
This work presents an introduction to the concept of social capital - a term which refers to the social networks, informal structures and norms that facilitate individual and collective action.