The concept of social capital has been widely
embraced by
academics, activists and governments. It promises a
language to
unite economics and sociology, and a resource that
will help explain
poverty, social exclusion and civic distrust. Yet
some suspect a
sinister process of colonisation, where the methods
and ideology of
market economics are imposed upon the broader social
sciences.
This book argues the concepts origins lie within the
rational choice
tradition, but makes a distinction between the
methodological and
ideological development of the concept. While social
capital theory...