Social Capital: Its Origins and Applications in Modern Sociology

TLDR

Social capital is employed in sociology to explain social control, family support, and extrafamilial benefits, while also recognizing negative effects and its recent extension to community and national levels. The paper reviews the origins, definitions, and consequences of social capital, discusses its extension to communities and nations, and argues for its role in sociological theory. The author distinguishes four sources of social capital, examines their dynamics, provides examples of positive functions, reviews four negative consequences, and discusses the concept’s extension to larger units and its limitations. Excessive extensions of the concept may undermine its heuristic value.

Abstract

This paper reviews the origins and definitions of social capital in the writings of Bourdieu, Loury, and Coleman, among other authors. It distinguishes four sources of social capital and examines their dynamics. Applications of the concept in the sociological literature emphasize its role in social control, in family support, and in benefits mediated by extrafamilial networks. I provide examples of each of these positive functions. Negative consequences of the same processes also deserve attention for a balanced picture of the forces at play. I review four such consequences and illustrate them with relevant examples. Recent writings on social capital have extended the concept from an individual asset to a feature of communities and even nations. The final sections describe this conceptual stretch and examine its limitations. I argue that, as shorthand for the positive consequences of sociability, social capital has a definite place in sociological theory. However, excessive extensions of the concept may jeopardize its heuristic value.