Social Capital: An Introduction

The recent decade has been increasingly using of the concept of “social capital” in social, political, economic, organizational and management literatures. The wide spread interest in the application of the concept could suggest the theoretical importance of social capital. It offers a path to bridge sociological and economic perspectives and to provide richer and better explanations of economic development. The way the nature and extent of social interactions among communities and institutions shape economic performance, is a perfect implication as well as development of it. Understanding the role of outside agencies in alleviating poverty among diversified poor communities is always a challenge to development. A social capital perspective emphasizes that technical and financial aspects are necessary but these are insufficient conditions for poor communities to accept the project. However, the importance of social relations provides opportunities to activate other resources, which are helpful to growth and development. The nature and extent of the interactions between communities and institutions hold the key to understand the scenario of development in a given society. This book discusses and elaborates the concept of social capital and generates an awareness of the issue. In this process, it also emphasizes the process of how social capital gets generated and measured in given social conditions. The book further discusses the applications of the study to many social issues including poverty, migration, economic development etc. Country specific studies on social capital are also discussed.