Social Capital - Essay Example

Concept of “Social Capital” “Social capital” is perceived as a connection between various social networks within the society to overcome common problems or meet for a common cause. As a bond is created between various social institutions or bodies to achieve the common purpose, it gives birth to social capital. The concept itself is derived from the basic trait of human being as a social animal who is dependent on others for his very basic needs. It is quite true no person on this earth can live alone and no societal institution or any commercial or non commercial establishment can survive without remaining socially connected to each other and so is derived the term “social capital.” Understanding this important trait of human beings, different agents and research institutions have begun to construct this term from different perspectives and understanding which elements of it are the most crucial for the society. Putnam, Leonardi and Nanetti in 1993 in their Making Democracy Work: Civic Traditions in Modern Italy, defined the term “social capital” as “features of social organisation, such as trust, norms [or reciprocity], and networks [of civil engagement], that can improve the efficiency of society by facilitating coordinated actions” (Hobbs 2000). The World Bank defined it as “the institutions, relationships, and norms that shape the quality and quantity of a society’s social interactions” (Hobbs 2000). However despite the differences in perspectives, all believe that social networks are the most valuable assets for the society “just as a screwdriver (physical capital) or a college education (human capital) can increase productivity (both individual and collective)” (Putnam 2000, p. 19), in the same way forming social contacts are excellent for increasing the productivity of the individuals and even groups (Putnam 2000, p. 19). It is said that the term “social capital” was first used by L.J Hanifan in his 1916 article to gain the support of the local people for the rural school but the credit for the use of this term goes to Jane Jacob in 1960 while mentioning about the value of networks (Winter 2000, p. 1). Similarly several sociologists like Pierre Bourdieu made use of it to differentiate it with economic, culture and symbolic capital (Winter 2000, p. 2). In many of the western democracies of today, we can see the concept of community and social networks at all the civil, political as well as economical levels growing, giving an ample proof of the increase in social relations as the most important cause for maintaining sustainable communities in all the social, economic and democratic spheres of the society. These kinds of social relationships are said to be loaded with the social capital including all the norms or means of production that allow the people to join in the mutual agreement or work in a collective way. There are different traits of social capital like social norms, social network and trust (Productivity Commission 2003, p. x). Social norms are informal rules that formulate the behavior of the people in varying circumstances like showing tolerance and respect towards others etc as well as “reciprocity” like behavior with others in the way you expect others should behave with you. Similarly social network is an interconnection between the different groups of people having common characteristics and traits for e.g. family or a religious group. The third one is trust which is simply the way to develop confidence with the people whom you are in contact. Trust is a main thrust of all the relationships and is the most important component for the well being and overall development of the human beings (Productivity Commission 2003, p. xi). Studies conducted on the sociology of economic development in the developing nations as well as around the “network capitalism” in East Asia have also diverted attention towards the importance of the social networks. In fact even in the Western economies, researchers have found out highly flexible form of “network capitalism” in highly industrialized areas based on integrated network of social links and interaction between the workers as well as entrepreneurs (Putnam 1995, p. 66). These networks are also the part of the civic engagement creating a direct impact on the representative government and the way these social institutions or civic engagements reflect the result with better schools, and speedy economic development show the extent of the social capital at play (Putnam 1995, p. 66). Particularly social capital following social norms, well established networks as well as trust can be a great asset and valuable for the whole nation as the cost can be reduced to a great extent in performing day-to-day affairs, and even in performing business by scientific developments and increase in knowledge. Moreover it can also be achieved by initiating the cooperative and social behavior among separatist individuals and even through social well organizations like health welfare societies and others. Social capital also moves beyond the general conceptualized meanings and definitions to incorporate general life and habits of the people and how they culturally form serious social networks to get along with their life. Daily activities of the life are construed in the paradigm of their social fabric that in turn they become a form of high profiled social capital. Habit of daily walking and offering prayers in a group become their culture resulting in the improvement in their mental and physical health. However in this too, Becker and Bourdieu do not seem to bother much about the term “social” especially not in the way they understand “capital”. They decipher the term through their understanding of the form of art, or through politics or social world in general. In his The Rules of Art, Bourdieu makes use of the term “social space” contriving different notions while in The Field of Cultural Production, the idea of the “field of class relations is used for the same space” (Maanen 2009, p. 137), with both contriving to be understood within the “society as a whole” (Maanen 2009, p. 137). In this too, there are different fields as for instance artistic field and literary field, with the former as a part of the latter and in turn the latter also a part of the former making it complete cultural social network whereby everyone is playing their part yet while being interdependent on each other. These “social capital” concepts make it very imperative to understand that it is very difficult to measure the same. Still many attempts have been made to measure the depth of social capital in the society and the impact of the same, for instance the effect of the level of “trust” among people is high in continental Europe especially in Scandinavia and in many of the English speaking areas (Productivity Commission 2003, p. xiii). Trust in the society has created amiable situations for the people to develop their potentials and contribute further for the growth and development of their nation but evidences show that these results were either rough estimates or marginally correct. Social capital itself implies several complexities and its versatile and multifaceted approach makes it almost impossible to give the exact results (Productivity Commission 2003, p. xiii). Social and individual networks, commercial networks, several private, semi government or government institutions and even several connections at political level make it very difficult to judge the exact figure of the impact of the same in their particular arena of working and in whole society or nation yet the signs of the same are quite visible. Social capital is a form of life and a way for us to become a responsible citizen of the society. It involves social institutions, government and semi government bodies, relationships, values, attributes and beliefs we adopt in our relationship with ourselves and others in the society. As said by World Bank in 1998 it is “not simply the sum of institutions which underpin society, it is also the glue that holds them together” (Productivity Commission 2003, p. ix). We are all integrated with each other through one way or the other and through different means of production- this whole when combined together form the “social capital”. There has been growing interest on this concept “social capital” among researchers, and sociologists to understand the benefits it has been generating on the society. It is because of the social capital that we can now see many hospitals and welfare centers coming up, emerging of educational institutions to provide education to the children like hot cakes and likewise many government as well as semi government and even private activities going on making the social capital as more of the practical and not a subjective term for us to understand and fully grasp its importance and impact on our daily lives. Reference List Hobbs, G 2000, What is social capital$1 Caledonia Centre for Social Development, viewed 2 March, 2011, . Maanen, H 2009, How to study art worlds: on the societal functioning of aesthetic values, Amsterdam, Amsterdam University Press. Putnam, RD 1995, ‘Bowling Alone: Americas Declining Social Capital’, Journal of Democracy, vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 65-78. Putnam, RD, 2000, The Collapse and Revival of American Community, Simon & Schuster, New York, NY. Productivity Commission 2003, Social Capital: Reviewing the Concept and its Policy Implications, Research Paper, AusInfo, Canberra, viewed 2 March, 2011, . Winter, I 2000, Towards a theorised understanding of family life and social capital, Working Paper No.21-Australian Institute of Family Studies, viewed 2 March, 2011, . \ Read More