Building a network theory of social capital

Recently, social capital has become one of the most important concepts in the social sciences. It is now necessary to define it, review it, identify controversies and debates, consider critical issues, and propose conceptual and research strategies in building a theory.

The basic assumption behind social capital is that there are investments in social relations with expected returns. Through debate and clarification it is learned that social capital can be defined as resources embedded in a social structure which are accessed or mobilised in purposive actions. Social capital contains three ingredients: resources embedded in a social structure; accessibility to such social resources by individuals; and the use of social resources in purposeful actions. It can be defined as: an investment in social relations by individuals through which they gain access to embedded resources to enhance expected returns of instrumented or expressive actions.

Cybernetworks, defined as social networks in cyberspace, have an enormous impact on social capital. Because of it, there is a revolutionary rise of social capital. We are encountering an era where social capital far outpaces personal capital in significance and effect. Communication and networking through the computer indicates that this new form of social networks and social relations involves a significant amount of creation and use of social capital. With this new discovery, new topics and new theories need to be developed regarding social capital. Much work is needed to explore the relations and embedded resources - forms of social capital - to understand how cybernetworks build and segment social capital.

(Condensed from PovertyNet)