Social capital and disasters: How does social capital shape post-disaster conditions in the Philippines?

ABSTRACT

Social capital is a common feature among disaster-resilient communities. This research aims to define how social capital shapes the post-disaster conditions in the 2011 Typhoon Washi-affected communities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan City in Region 10 Philippines. Qualitative analysis was used in analyzing the data gathered through purposive sampling and semi-structured interviews. Thirty typhoon survivors and 14 focal persons of the government and non-government agencies were chosen based on their active involvement in the community. The findings revealed that the solidarity among typhoon-affected communities contributed to the recovery of the survivors. The findings also highlighted that the solidarity in the typhoon-affected communities is part of the normative structure of the society where bonding and linking social capital are nurtured. Further, the community remains to believe that their respective local officials can be trusted and are capable of helping them in times of need despite the shortcomings during the 2011 Typhoon Washi. We argue that social capital in the community is not easily diminished over a crisis and therefore must be nurtured towards effective community-based disaster resilience mechanisms.     

“We're gonna get you through it”: The role of bonding social capital in the development of bridging social capital

Many programs that place low-income students of color in high-achieving college preparatory high schools seek to nurture bridging social capital, connections across class lines that provide leverage in the process of “getting ahead.” Bonding social capital, which focuses more on emotional support and “getting by,” is frequently characterized as less useful for social mobility. Drawing upon in-depth interviews with alumni from one such program, we challenge the notion of bridging and bonding social capital as discrete, countervailing forms of social capital, and demonstrate how the two may complement each other. Specifically, we find that bonding social capital served as a critical resource that students drew upon as they navigated their elite high schools in the face of racism and classism. In doing so, this bonding social capital ultimately facilitated the development of bridging social capital by encouraging student persistence at these institutions. Our findings support critiques of traditional accounts of social capital that devalue the capital possessed by marginalized communities and fuel deficit ideologies. Furthermore, they highlight the personal costs that youth may face in the pursuit of bridging capital, complicating the narrative of social mobility as an unmitigated good.     

Conquering with capital: social,cultural, and economic capital’s role in combating socioeconomic disadvantage and contributing to educational attainment

While socioeconomic barriers to learning have been well-documented by education, sociology, and social policy scholars, further research is needed to understand how students with low-socioeconomic status excel in high-performing schools. The collection and analysis of 20 in-depth interviews with female college students from different racial and socioeconomic backgrounds provide rich insights into the stark differences between the educational practices of low and high-SES students. Building on Bourdieu’s conceptualization of how habitus and capital influence practices in the field of education exposes unique, strategic practices that low-SES students use to attain educational success within a system of reproduction and power. While entering a high-performing school is often perceived as a definitive step for accessing high-quality educational resources, my findings illustrate how it is actually an important intermediary step within a more complex process. Increasing educational opportunity and attainment for low-SES students requires improving their access to social, cultural, and economic capital through knowledgeable mentors who contribute to a habitus and portfolio of capital which enable practices to successfully navigate and challenge the educational system.     

Social capital: A useful concept for social work?

Abstract

In recent years, Australian governments at all levels have adopted social capital and related concepts to frame social policy. Hence, these ideas provide the backdrop within which much contemporary social work practice and social policy development occurs. Despite extensive coverage of social capital concepts in the social science literature there has been limited discussion of their application to social work practice. In this paper we review the origins and meaning of social capital. We then turn to a discussion of its application to progressive social work as well as a consideration of the criticisms of social capital concepts. We introduce a synergy model of social capital formation that incorporates a dual focus on local community networks and the role of the institutions of government, non-government agencies and business in the creation of social capital. The paper concludes with consideration of how a synergy approach can be applied in, and developed through, social work practice.

Karen Healy and Anne Hampshire lead a three year research project entitled: ‘Creating Better Communities: A Study of Social Capital Creation in Four Communities’. The study examines processes of social capital creation in urban, regional and rural contexts. The study is jointly funded by The Australian Research Council and The Benevolent Society     

The Kuznets curve of human capital inequality: 1870–2010

This paper describes the long-term global trends in education inequality since 1870. Inequality in years of schooling is shown to have mechanically decreased along with the decline in the share of illiterate people. In search of a monetary equivalent of years of schooling, we turn to Mincer (1974) human capital ineq uality. Within countries, we find evidence of an inverted U-shape curve for human capital inequality over time, namely a Kuznets curve for human capital. At the global level, the world inequality in human capital has followed a similar trajectory, first increasing from 1870 to 1970, then decreasing.     

Values beyond value? Is anything beyond the logic of capital?

We are living in a time when it is frequently assumed that the logic of capital has subsumed every single aspect of our lives, intervening in the organization of our intimate relations as well as the control of our time, including investments in the future (e.g. via debt). The theories that document the incursion of this logic (often through the terms of neoliberalism and/or governmentality) assume that this logic is internalized, works and organizes everything including our subjectivity. These theories performatively reproduce the very conditions they describe, shrinking the domain of values and making it subject to capital's logic. All values are reduced to value. Yet values and value are always dialogic, dependent and co‐constituting. In this paper I chart the history by which value eclipses values and how this shrinks our sociological imagination. By outlining the historical processes that institutionalized different organizations of the population through political economy and the social contract, producing ideas of proper personhood premised on propriety, I detail how forms of raced, gendered and classed personhood was formed. The gaps between the proper and improper generate significant contradictions that offer both opportunities to and limits on capitals' lines of flight. It is the lacks, the residues, and the excess that cannot be captured by capital's mechanisms of valuation that will be explored in order to think beyond the logic of capital and show how values will always haunt value.     

Young people’s education biographies: family relationships,social capital and belonging

This paper examines complexities and interdependencies of key family relationships which anchor young people’s educational biographies. It is well recognised that young people’s education pathways in late modernity are strongly dependent on their ability to draw on the range of resources available, and that socio-economic status and family resources play a central role in this process. Less is known about how such relationships anchor young people’s education biographies. Drawing on theories of social capital and belonging in dialogue with qualitative interviews, and situated in studies of rural youth and education, this article considers how young people themselves talk and make decisions about their education in relation to complex family connections. These connections, contestations and negotiations between young people and central family members highlight how the late modern economy impacts on young people’s intimate relationships, and sheds light on the ongoing work of youth to resolve such tensions around their schooling in daily life.     

Independent inventors,social capital,and knowledge transfer – the case of Slovenia

This paper explores the role and significance of independent inventors within the national innovation system. By using a case study based on interviews with 22 independent inventors, it examines the types of social capital facilitating independent inventors' access to relevant knowledge and information. The findings show that, in line with their marginalization in the national innovation system, independent inventors have very limited access to the services and assistance of supportive organizations of the national innovation system. They primarily rely on the social capital residing in civil society organizations as well as the social capital of their family and friends. Professional and interdisciplinary linkages can thus be regarded as their weak point hindering their access to relevant knowledge and information.     

Cultural capital or relative risk aversion? Two mechanisms for educational inequality compared1

In this paper we empirically examined two explanatory mechanisms for educational inequality: cultural reproduction and relative risk aversion, using survey data taken from secondary school pupils in Amsterdam. Cultural reproduction theory seeks to explain class variations in schooling by cultural differences between social classes. Relative risk aversion theory argues that educational inequalities can be understood by between-class variation in the necessity of pursuing education at branching points in order to avoid downward mobility. We showed that class variations in early demonstrated ability are for a substantial part cultural: cultural capital - measured by parental involvement in highbrow culture - affected school performance at the primary and secondary level. However, relative risk aversion - operationalized by being concerned with downward mobility - strongly affects schooling ambitions, whereas cultural capital had no effect. Thus, we conclude that 'primary effects' of social origin on schooling outcomes are manifested through cultural capital and not through relative risk aversion (in addition to other potential sources of class variations such as genetics). Relative risk aversion, and not cultural capital, affects schooling ambitions, which is relevant for our understanding of secondary effects.     

It is risky business: can social capital reduce risk-taking behaviours among disadvantaged youth?

This study addresses the gap in the research for sound multidimensional assessment of social capital and its relationship with risk-taking behaviour among youths living in disadvantaged communities. Social capital and adolescent risk-taking outcomes were studied cross-sectionally in 1371 secondary students living in two disadvantaged communities within Australia. First, a multidimensional measure of social capital was developed and tested using confirmatory factor analysis. Then, the associations between social capital and a range of youth risk-taking behaviours were examined using structural equation modelling across five-year groups (Grades 7–12). With a few exceptions, higher levels of social capital and belongingness within the school and community were generally associated with decreases in smoking, alcohol and drug consumption, and physical violence. Some outcomes were more strongly associated with family and peer social capital, while others associated more with neighbour and community social capital, indicating that attempts to build social capital need to be targeted across the whole community. This study supports the notion that social capital can be measured empirically and is beneficial in alleviating many of the detrimental health outcomes commonly associated with risk-taking behaviours during adolescence.     

Is the relationship between inequality and growth affected by physical and human capital accumulation?

Using the latest available data and semiparametric methods, we investigate how human and physical capital accumulation affects the relationship between income inequality and subsequent economic growth. We find that higher income inequality generally reduces economic growth over the next 5-year period. Within nations possessing little human capital, this inequality-growth penalty is exacerbated by higher levels of physical capital, thus implying that as the returns to human capital rise relative to physical capital, inequality becomes more harmful to growth. This inequality-growth pattern does not hold in well educated nations.     

Limited opportunities: Adolescents’ access to social capital in secondary schools in three European countries

While previous research indicates that students benefit from their peers’ resources, little is known about access to social capital in the school context. Therefore, this study examines differential access to social capital – measured by friends’ socioeconomic status (SES), the number of books they have at home, and their reading habits – in secondary schools in Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden. Relying on a large-scale dataset, I investigate the association between socioeconomic status, minority status, and social capital using complete friendship network information. I argue that social capital access is connected to a two-stage process consisting of school sorting and friendship selection. To differentiate between these two processes, I apply within-between random effects (REWB). The models show that friendship selection is much less relevant for access to social capital than school sorting. Results indicate that while high-SES students have better access to social capital across dimensions, access patterns for minority students are more nuanced.     

Cars,capital and disorder in Ivan Vladislavic’s The Exploded View and Portrait with Keys

There is a substantial corpus of criticism on the epistemology of walking in recent writing by Ivan Vladislavic. This article expands upon the literature through a focus on the ways in which The Exploded View and Portrait with Keys engage with and pressurise the socio-spatial dominance of car driving in Johannesburg. It maintains that while car-use radically organises space and place in the city, this hegemony is tested by alternate forms of mobility. As Vladislavic’s work suggests, disorderly and apparently liminal urban modalities and movements disrupt orderly expressions of urban capital aligned with car-driving.     

What's in the “old boys” network? Accessing social capital in gendered and racialized networks

Network processes have long been implicated in the reproduction of labor market inequality, but it remains unclear whether white male networks provide more social capital resources than female and minority networks. Analysis of nationally representative survey data reveals that people in white male networks receive twice as many job leads as people in female/minority networks. White male networks are also comprised of higher status connections than female/minority networks. The information and status benefits of membership in these old boy networks accrue to all respondents and not just white men. Furthermore, gender homophilous contacts offer greater job finding assistance than other contacts. The results specify how social capital flows through gendered and racialized networks.     

The influence of parents’ social capital on their children’s transition to vocational training in Germany

This study investigates the up-to-now strongly underexplored role of parents’ social capital in the school-to-work transition of adolescents. We base our empirical analyses on unique longitudinal largescale data from the German National Educational Panel Study. Parents’ social capital is measured with a position generator. Results show that adolescents with lower secondary education have better chances of finding an apprenticeship in a company if their parents know many persons with lower-status occupations for which vocational training is sufficient. This is especially the case for parents’ social contacts that have occupations in which many adolescents with lower secondary education are being trained in a company. The contrary is true for adolescents whose parents know many persons with higher-status occupations. Parents’ social networks do not show any effects on the quality of these apprenticeships or on the probability of entering school-based vocational training. Overall, our results indicate that parents’ social networks are important for a smooth school-to-work transition of their children. Moreover, our analyses confirm the idea that social capital is goal and labour market segment specific.     

Does the Internet matter for strong ties? Bonding social capital,Internet use,and age-based inequality

As the Internet becomes pervasive in western societies, social capital emerges as a valuable sociological tool to analyze the social effects of Internet use. Thus, a growing body of research has been looking into the relationship between social capital and Internet usage. This research has been showing a positive relationship between them; however, results are not as conclusive when we consider one of the main dimensions of social capital: bonding. Bonding relates to resources that are embedded in one’s strong ties (i.e., family members and close friends). The study of bonding is of particular sociological interest, since the discussion around the social effects of the Internet still suggests that it takes time away from strong ties and that is more useful to connect with weak ties (i.e., acquaintances). This study examines the relationship between bonding and the Internet, using representative survey data and semi-structured interviews from Portugal. Findings show that bonding is predicted positively by Internet use but negatively by age. On one hand, the Internet seems to compensate for the negative age effect because older adults who use it are more likely to have a high level of bonding. On the other hand, the Internet reinforces accumulated social advantage.     

Can stigma become a resource? The mobilisation of aesthetic–corporal capital by female immigrant entrepreneurs from Brazil

The proportion and visibility of Brazilian women and particularly the specific images of Brazil and Brazilians in the Portuguese imaginary have contributed to the construction of new versions of stigma and stereotypes surrounding them. Mainstream images of Brazilian women have incorporated prejudices about the sensuality of Creole women who are reminiscent of the Portuguese colonial imaginary. Starting from this stigmatised image, we show how Brazilian women entrepreneurs in the ‘beauty’ business filière reinterpret and mobilise this perceived negative image, transforming it into an added value associated with an ‘aesthetic’ Brazilian body culture. This idea of ‘body’ aesthetics becomes a business resource transformed into aesthetic–corporal capital, a key component of the Brazilian beauty business filière. Empirically, this research is based on qualitative elements, in particular 25 interviews with Brazilian women entrepreneurs of the beauty filière working in Portugal, collected for the project BELTS-W (Brazilian Entrepreneurial Links and Transnational Strategies – Women).     

Building inclusion,maintaining marginality: how social and health services act as capital for young substance users

This paper draws on Bourdieusian concepts to examine the social mechanisms driving service ‘choices’ for marginalised young substance users. In doing so, it problematises the individualised understandings of ‘choice-making’ common in the existing literature. The paper uses interview data collected from 26 young substance users to describe the resources they bring to their service encounters, the capitals that they acquire through these interactions, and the ways in which these are mobilised within the fields in which they operate. The analysis finds that services acted as capital-building settings – participants acquired material resources and opportunities for skill-building, and they built relationships that contributed to a positive sense of identity and belonging. But the exchange potentials attached to these capitals were restricted by the logics of service fields that cast them as deficit and limited their opportunities to build productive forms of social capital. By revealing the social mechanisms behind service ‘choices’, the analysis suggests that the most effective services are those that maximise the opportunities for their young clients to build ‘weak ties’, such as with a diverse range of adults who themselves possess resources, and those that acknowledge the identities that young people already possess as rational and self-managing.