Beyond Tocqueville: Civil Society and Social Capital in Comparative Perspective

1998 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
MICHAEL W. FOLEY ◽  
BOB EDWARDS
2002 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth H. Tucker ◽  
Bob Edwards ◽  
Michael W. Foley ◽  
Mario Diani

2004 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 751-753
Author(s):  
Laura Macdonald

Generating Social Capital: Civil Society and Institutions in Comparative Perspective, Marc Hooghe and Dietlind Stolle, eds., New York and Houndmills, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003, pp. 256The concept of “social capital” has become a popular buzzword. Like other authors, the contributors to this volume draw on Robert Putnam's well-known definition of social capital as “generalized trust, norms of reciprocity and networks” among individuals (2). Social capital is credited with providing a wide range of social benefits, including tolerance of diversity, economic growth, lower crime rates, better health and more responsive government. The grandiose claims made on behalf of social capital and the large amounts of money being poured into developing social capital in diverse social settings, as well as the fuzziness of the original concept, mean that careful analysis of the idea of social capital is badly needed.


2015 ◽  
pp. 138-146
Author(s):  
N. Rozinskaya ◽  
I. Rozinskiy

This article deals with the genesis of general trust and social capital in contemporary Russia, which faces the external pressure. The low level of general trust is noted, its economic, social and everyday life implications are considered, an explanation of Russia’s lower than in western Europe level of trust is provided. Considering society’s level of trust and social capital as externalia, the authors conclude that there is a necessity to "produce" trust intentionally. Promotion of collective charity is proposed as a mechanism of such "production". It is stressed that in order to activate the potential of trust in a society, there is a need for ideological and symbolic basis linked to its history. Russian People’s Unity Day, understood as the birthday of Russian civil society, is proposed to be used in this respect.


2014 ◽  
pp. 77-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Menyashev

There is a popular view in Russian studies arguing that underdevelopment of Russian civil society is partly responsible for the failure of liberal idea in Russia. Fragmented society sees no alternative to massive government regulation, that is why support of strong state is so high. If this logic is true, the differences in civicness across urban societies should show up in liberal parties support. This paper estimates this effect using social capital framework and drawing upon the data from Russian regions.


2011 ◽  
Vol 58-60 ◽  
pp. 359-363
Author(s):  
Ai Lin Zheng ◽  
Zhen Sheng Tao

Industrialization, information technology is a process of change of social capital. China's traditional social capital are mainly within the family, we must carry forward the expansion of traditional ethics and trust radius, The formation of the general trust in market economy, civil society organizations to promote the formation of modern social capital. Our government has an important role in formation of social capital.


2001 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 362-398 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashutosh Varshney

Scholars have worked either on civil society or on ethnic conflict, but no systematic attempt has yet been made to connect the two. In an attempt to explore the possible links, this article makes two interconnected arguments. First, interethnic and intraethnic networks of civic engagement play very different roles in ethnic conflict. Because they build bridges and manage tensions, interethnic networks are agents of peace. But if communities are organized only along intraethnic lines and the interconnections with other communities are very weak (or do not exist), ethnic violence is then quite likely. Second, civic networks, both intra- and interethnic, can also be broken down into two other types: associational forms of engagement and everyday forms of engagement. This distinction is based on whether civic interaction is formal or not. Both forms of engagement, if robust, promote peace: contrariwise, their absence or weakness opens up space for ethnic violence. Of the two, however, the associational forms turn out to be sturdier than everyday engagement, especially when confronted with attempts by politicians to polarize the people along ethnic lines. Both arguments have significance for theories of ethnic conflict and social capital.


2009 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Akiko Abe

This article traces the roots of social capital formation in Zambézia, Mozambique, using data from the fieldwork and introducing the analytical framework of social knowledge, and examines the issues of decentralization in societies with low stocks of social capital. The case of Zambézia suggests that traditions of collective action for common goods and good local leadership can be a key to enhance stocks of social capital. To overcome inequality and the so-called local capture problems in societies with low stocks of social capital, alternative communication methods, public-civil society partnership and more intensified allocation of researchers in the field are recommended.


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