Torsello, Davide - Pappová, Melinda: Social Networks in Movement. Time, interaction and interethnic spaces in Central Eastern Europe - Nostra Tempora 8. (Somorja-Dunaszerdahely, 2003)
Aknowledgement
16 Claire Wallace ital is defined as a cultural phenomenon, denoting the extent of civic mindedness of members of a society, the level and nature of social norms promoting collective action and the degree of trust in social institutions (Putnam 1994). He began his work by trying to explain the difference in economic and political development between Northern and Southern Italy. A rather crude reduction of this argument is that: Northern Italy had choral societies and football clubs which enhanced public participation; Southern Italy did not. In other words, social capital is a public good resulting from individual actions. However, it still rests upon social networking which can be enhanced by joining an organisation. In the definition of Nan Lin and others, by contrast, social capital refers more to the investment in social networks by individuals. In the work of Bourdieu, this can be converted into either cultural capital, real wealth or “symbolic capital" in terms of social status and social cohesion (Bourdieu 1983). In the tradition of Coleman (1988) social capital is understood as the sum of the individual’s relational capital, or in other words, the density of social networks governed by norms of reciprocity and reputational enforcement mechanisms (Coleman 1988). In both interpretations, social capital facilitates economic exchange. In Putnam’s interpretation, social capital promotes the provision of collective goods, including third party contract reinforcement through the state, facilitates the exchange of information and thereby promotes an increasingly complex division of labour - I label this “formal social capital”. In Coleman's/Bourdieu/Lin’s interpretation, norms of reciprocity and reputational reinforcement mechanisms allow partners to an economic transaction to overcome problems of opportunism and uncertainty. Social networks reduce transaction costs even in the absence of formal contract enforcement mechanisms - what I have termed “informal social capital”. The two kinds of social capital can be summarized in the chart below. Here, I show some of the contrasts between the two concepts. In the case of formal social capital, this is the property of society and social institutions and is related to
