Social Capital

Social capital is a popular interdisciplinary concept, and yet its origin, meaning, use, and value are highly contested. To begin with, many attribute the origin of social capital to either U.S. political scientist Robert Putnam or French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu. In his renowned text Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community, however, Putnam credits the term social capital to scholars that long preceded his time, including Lyda J. Hanifan, Yves Dube, J. E. Howes, D. L. McQueen, Jane Jacobs, Glenn Loury, Pierre ...