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Critical and theoretical
perspectives
SOCIAL
CAPITAL

SOCIAL CAPITAL
Social Capital
Trust
Sense of
Belonging
Reciprocity
• Social capital is the resources (i.e.
valued goods) embedded in one’s
social networks (Lin, 2008)
• Resources can be anything desirable,
such as information, status, or
interpersonal connection.
• Such resources are accessed or
mobilized through network ties (i.e.,
relationships).

• When an individual has an adequate
amount of social capital, there is an
increased level of trust, reciprocity, and a
sense of belonging.
• In organizations, an adequate amount of
social capital can improve efficiency, job
satisfaction, learning, and turnover rates.
SOCIAL CAPITAL

• Communities that lack social capital find it harder to
share information or achieve collective goals.
• If someone lacks social capital, they are less likely to
make as much money, even if they have more
education, experience and training.
A LACK OF SOCIAL CAPITAL

Robert Putnam
Social connections can be categorized into three types:
Bonding, bridging and linking.
James Coleman
Social connections provide resources,
but they are also a resource in themselves.
Pierre Bourdieu
A resource created through social connections; can be converted into
other things (e.g. money or status).
THE EVOLUTION OF SOCIAL
CAPITAL

• Bonding networks: Relationships with family or
close friends
• Bridging networks: Connections with associates
and acquaintances
• Linking networks: Relationships with people in
positions of power outside a person’s usual
network
BONDING, BRIDGING AND
LINKING CAPITAL

Social capital can be measured by
looking at a person’s accessibility to
and use of these resources.
NAN LIN’S SOCIAL CAPITAL
Lin (2008) argues that social capital serves
two functions:
• It serves to obtain resources, such as
power, skills, money, or status (known as
instrumental purposes).
• It serves to preserve existing resources,
such as maintaining a bond with a co-
worker by talking to them on a daily basis
(known as expressive purposes).

HOW TO RECOGNIZE SOCIAL
CAPITAL

Homophily
Similarity in resources and features
Groupthink
less diversity and innovation
Inequality across groups
In-group and out-group
Intergroup tension and conflict
Stigma of out-group; favouritism to in-group
THE PARADOX OF SOCIAL
CAPITAL

• Help with the assumption that you may not get anything in
return, but that person may pay the favour forward to someone
who needs it.
• Small gestures make big differences.
• Social capital cannot be manufactured; but it can be encouraged.
PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS OF
SOCIAL CAPITAL

Further reading
Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In J.G. Richardson (ed.). Handbook of Theory
and Research for the Sociology of Education. (pp. 241-258). Westport: Greenwood Press.
Coleman, J. (1988). Social capital in the creation of human capital. American Journal of
Sociology, 94, 95-120.
Granovetter, M. (1973). The strength of weak ties. American Journal of Sociology, 6, 1360-
1380.
Lin, N. (2011). Social capital: Critical concepts in the social sciences. New York: Routledge.
Putnam, R. (2000). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of American community. New York:
Simon & Schuster.

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