The Handbook of Social Capital

by Dario Castiglione (Editor), Jan W. van Deth (Editor), Guglielmo Wolleb (Editor)

Overview

Social capital is a relatively new concept in the social sciences. In the last twenty or so years it has come to indicate that networks of social relationships represent a 'resource' for both the individual and society, since they provide support for the individual and facilitate collective action. Although this is not an entirely new idea, the more systematic way in which social capital captures such an intuition has created a new theoretical paradigm and helped to develop a series of innovative research programmes in politics, economics, and the study of human well-being. The concept has gained currency beyond academia, extending its influence to political and policy-making circles at local, national, and international levels. It has also affected the way in which social surveys are conceived and public policies assessed. As the idea of social capital has spread, the literature about it has increased exponentially. After twenty years of rapid expansion it is time for a more considered and critical assessment of how the original concept has been adapted and refined, and how successful its application has been. The Handbook of Social Capital intends to do precisely that. It offers a state-of-the-art view of discussions about the concept of social capital and the way in which it has been applied in empirical research. The organization of the Handbook reflects this intention by focusing on conceptual development and analysis in the first part; by identifying two main areas of research in which social capital has favoured the development of new and influential research programmes - political participation in democratic societies, and economic development; and by exploring the more normative and policy oriented consequences of social capital. All chapters comprising the volume were specifically written for the Handbook by some of the main experts in the fields. The book provides authoritative and innovative introduction to the study of social capital.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780191556579
Publisher:	OUP Oxford
Publication date:	04/17/2008
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Dario Castiglione is Reader in Political Theory at the University of Exeter. His main research interests are in the history of political thought, theories of democracy and civil society, and European constitutionalism. Jan W. van Deth is Professor of Political Science and International Comparative Social Research at the University of Mannheim (Germany). He was Director of the Mannheim Centre for European Social Research (MZES) and is a Corresponding Member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. He was convenor of the international network Citizenship, Involvement, Democracy (CID) of the European Science Foundation and is national coordinator of the German team for the European Social Survey. Guglielmo Wolleb is Professor of Economics at the University of Parma (Italy). He teaches Microeconomics and European Regional Policies, and is Director of the Master in 'Manager of development and cohesion policies,' and President of the Post- Graduate Course 'Local development and international cooperation'. His current research focuses on local development policies in Italy and Europe.

Table of Contents

Contributors xiii Social capital's fortune: An introduction Dario Castiglione Jan W. van Deth Guglielmo Wolleb 1 Part I Conceptual Issues Introduction: Conceptual issues in social capital theory Dario Castiglione 13
1 The two meanings of social capital Hartmut Esser 22
2 A network theory of social capital Nan Lin 50
3 Social capital and collective action T. K. Ahn Elinor Ostrom 70
4 Trust as a moral value Eric M. Uslaner 101
5 The nature and logic of bad social capital Mark E. Warren 122
6 Measuring social capital Jan W. van Deth 150
7 Social capital as a research programme Dario Castiglione 177 Part II Democratic Politics Introduction: Social capital and democratic politics Jan W. van Deth 199
8 Social capital and civic engagement: A comparative perspective Sigrid Rossteutscher 208
9 Trust and Politics Ken Newton 241
10 Political institutions and generalized trust Bo Rothstein Dietlind Stolle 273
11 Interest groups, social capital, and democratic politics William A. Maloney 303
12 Neighbourhood politics Herman Lelieveldt 327
13 Social capital in multicultural societies Meindert Fennema Jean Tillie 349 Part III Economic Development Introduction: Social capital and economic development Guglielmo Wolleb 373
14 Social capital in economics Domenico Cersosimo Rosanna Nistico 386
15 A relational approach to the theory and practices of economic development Michael Woolcock Elizabeth Radin 411
16 Social capital and economic development Anirudh Krishna 438
17 Microfinance and social capital Laura Foschi 467
18 Social capital and economic performance in transition economies Martin Raiser 491
19 Social capital,institutions, and collective action between firms Alessandro Arrighetti Gilberto Seravalli Guglielmo Wolleb 520 Part IV Between Community and Society Introduction: Social capital between community and society Dario Castiglione 555
20 Voluntary associations and socialization Marc Hooghe 568
21 Membership and inequality Steven N. Durlauf 594
22 Social capital and the capability approach Flavio Comim 624
23 Social capital and welfare policy Bill Jordan 652
24 Public policy and social capital Vivien Lowndes Lawrence Pratchett 677 Name Index 708 Concept Index 713