Towards the Methodological Foundation of Social Capital Theory. How (not) to Measure it in the Czech Republic.

Abstract

The field of social capital still lacks a recognized general theory. Accordingly, various and sometimes inappropriate measurements are used for it. The present monograph contributes to filling in this gap and provides progress towards the creation of a formalized social capital theory. Starting with the basic concepts of social capital of Bourdieu [1983] and Coleman [1988] we derive a general definition of social capital. Social capital is a property of relationships among individuals that are a resource actors can use and benefit from. Because neither Bourdieu's nor Coleman's concepts are appropriate as a general social capital theory the more current concepts of Putnam [2000], Burt [1992] and Lin [2001] are contested for this purpose. The discussions show that we can distinguish between cultural social capital (generalized trust, norms of reciprocity) and structural social capital (networks) and that we should focus on one of the two. Thus, we focus the latter but we take into account that cultural social capital is a preconditions as well as an outcome of structural social capital. Structural social capital is further influenced by collective assets (economy and historical or technological background) and individual characteristics (gender, age or ethnicity). Access to structural social capital or social...