Social Capital

The idea of social capital allows scholars to assess the quality of relationships among people within a particular community and show how that quality affects the ability to achieve shared goals. With evidence collected from 69 villages in India, Krishna investigates what social capital is, how it operates in practice, and what results it can be expected to produce. Does social capital provide a viable means for advancing economic development, promoting ethnic peace, and strengthening democratic governance? The world is richer than ever before, but more than a fifth of its people are poor and miserable. Civil wars and ethnic strife continue to mar prospects for peace. Democracy is in place in most countries, but large numbers of citizens do not benefit from it. How can development, peace and democracy become more fruitful for the ordinary citizen? This book shows how social capital is a crucial dimension of any solution to these problems.

Social capital can be defined as the institutions and networks of relationships between people, complemented by the attitudes, norms and values that underlie them. Based on a large volume of newly collected data from ten countries, this is the first book to provide a rigorous empirical testing of the link between social capital and economic development. It documents the pervasive role of social capital in accelerating poverty alleviation and rural development, facilitating the provision of goods and services, and easing political transition and recovery from civil conflicts.

The notion of social capital--those features of social organization that facilitate working and cooperating together for mutual benefit--has gained considerable prominence since the publication of Robert Putnam's Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community. While attention has been given to social capital, little has been given to religion's role in generating social capital. This is all the more ironic, given that religion constitutes the most common form of voluntary association in American today. Featuring essays by prominent social scientists, this is the first book-length systematic examination of the relationship between religion and social capital formation and what effects religious social capital has on democratic life in the United States today. This volume first casts the analysis of religious social capital within the larger discussion of social capital. It then assesses the nature of religious social capital, the extent to which it is distinct from or mirrors other forms of social capital, and the consequences that flow from its presence. It examines religion's role in fostering charitable contributions, volunteer activities, civic engagement, and political participation. In addition, it analyzes the ways in which particular contexts help to shape and modify such relationships. Finally, the volume addresses both the limits of religious social capital as well as its potential in fostering a more democratic society.

This timely volume puts emphasis on the effect of social capital on everyday life: how the routines of daily life lead people to get involved in their communities. Focussing on its micro-level causes and consequences, the book's international contributors argue that social capital is fundamentally concerned with the value of social networks and about how people interact with each other. The book suggests that different modes of participation have different consequences for creating - or destroying - a sense of community or participation. The diversity of countries, institutions and groups dealt with - from Indian castes to Dutch churches, from highly competent 'everyday makers' in Scandinavia to politics-avoiding Belgian women and Irish villagers - offers fascinating case studies, and theoretical reflections for the present debates about civil society and democracy.

The essays in this collection examine the relationship between institutional structures and community integration. Each chapter emphasizes the practical, realistic ways that social institutions create and sustain social capital and protect personal freedom. The chapters examine neighborhoods, family, religion, voluntary organizations, education, government, the military, and the economy.

Trust and Civil Society offers an original and accessible analysis of the meaning of "trust" in a range of critical contexts: voluntary organizations, faith associations, the economy, the state and welfare, environmental issues, and charity. Balancing theory with grounded analysis, and drawing on interdisciplinary and international perspectives, the book makes an important contribution to contemporary debates.

Prominent scholars and journalists ponder the question of why, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, the world is more divided than ever between the rich and the poor, between those living in freedom and those under oppression.

Galbraith's arguments are discussed by a group of economists in regards to current controversies and problems. Topics covered range from globalization and the role of the state to redistributive economic policies.