Social Capital: Theory and ResearchNan Lin, Karen S. Cook, Ronald S. Burt Leading scholars in the field of social networks from diverse disciplines present the first systematic and comprehensive collection of current theories and empirical research on the informal connections that individuals have for support, help, and information from other people. Expanding on concepts originally formulated by Pierre Bourdieu and James Coleman, this seminal work will find an essential place with educators and students in the fields of social networks, rational choice theory, institutions, and the socioeconomics of poverty, labor markets, social psychology, and race. The volume is divided into three parts. The first segment clarifies social capital as a concept and explores its theoretical and operational bases. Additional segments provide brief accounts that place the development of social capital in the context of the family of capital theorists, and identify some critical but controversial perspectives and statements regarding social capital in the literature. The editors then make the argument for the network perspective, why and how such a perspective can clarify controversies and advance our understanding of a whole range of instrumental and expressive outcomes. Social Capital further provides a forum for ongoing research programs initiated by social scientists working at the crossroads of formal theory and new methods. These scholars and programs share certain understandings and approaches in their analyses of social capital. They argue that social networks are the foundation of social capital. Social networks simultaneously capture individuals and social structure, thus serving as a vital conceptual link between actions and structural constraints, between micro- and macro-level analyses, and between relational and collective dynamic processes. They are further cognizant of the dual significance of the "structural" features of the social networks and the "resources" embedded in the networks as defining elements of social capital. Nan Lin is professor of sociology, Duke University. Karen Cook is Ray Lyman Wilber Professor of Sociology, Department of Sociology, Stanford University. Ronald S. Burt is Hobart W. Williams Professor of Sociology and Strategy, University of Chicago Graduate School of Business. |
From inside the book
... collective or an individual good (see Portes' critique, 1998). Most scholars agree that it is both collective and individual; that is, institutionalized social relations with embedded resources are expected to benefit both the collective ...
... collective assets and goods such as culture, norms, trust, etc. Causal propositions may be formulated (e.g., that collective assets, such as trust, promote the relations and networks and enhance the utility of embedded resources, or ...
... collective good, can also be seen in many different forms such as trust, norms, sanctions, authority, etc. — Coleman questions "whether social capital will come to be as useful a quantitative concept in social science as are the ...
... collective (e.g., occupational status or prestige, authority positions, sectors, etc.). In this technique, a sample of positions with identified valued resources (occupational status, authority positions, industrial sectors, etc.) is ...
... collective. Social gain needs some clarification. I have argued that reputation is an indication of social gain (Lin 2001, Chapter 9). Reputation can be defined as favorable /unfavorable opinions about an individual in a social network ...
Contents
3 | |
Structural Holes versus Network Closure as Social Capital | 31 |
Measurement Techniques | 57 |
How Much Is That Network Worth? Social Capital | 85 |
Interpersonal Ties Social Capital and Employer | 105 |
The Value of Social | 127 |
The Influence of Social Capital | 159 |
Social Networks and Social Capital | 209 |
Getting Support | 233 |
Index | 325 |