The notion of social capital has shot to prominence over the last twenty years across the entire spectrum of social science despite its being fundamentally flawed. It has also been extremely prominent in policy debate, having been both heavily promoted by the World Bank and adopted rhetorically by governments and politicians both to the left and right of “centre” (although the application of social capital in policy has been extremely limited). In practice, if not in principle given its earliest modern origins in the work of radical sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, the social capital literature has been: complicit with market imperfections approach to economics; served as a disguised vehicle for promotion of rational choice; neglected the global, power, conflict, class, the state and context; raised self-help from the individual to the collective level; and degraded many traditions of social theory across networks, trust, reciprocity, etc. Thus, whilst purporting to put civil society back on the agenda, it ignores the rich critical traditions that have already addressed civil society, resurrecting the idea that the latter makes up some sort of structural interaction with state and economy.
This account necessarily generalises over what is now a huge literature, one that is also shifting in content and direction, with a tendency currently to seek to bring back in what previous homogenising treatments have omitted, itself undermining the idea that any two applications of social capital have any commonality. Mercifully, there is now a substantial literature highly critical of social capital although the latter’s proponents have rarely engaged with critics other than to incorporate another variable or two in the understanding of social capital. But the weaknesses of social capital are so crippling to those who have any intellectual integrity that the response is often not to engage at all. It is significant and welcome, for example, that there is very little by way of Marxist contributions along the lines that capitalism destroys social capital of the good type and socialism would create it (and vice-versa for bad social capital). This is because social capital is a sort of oxymoron for anyone with any sensitivity to political economy and the corresponding understanding of “capital” as social in the economic arena. But it would be a mistake to allow social capital to go its separate way without continuing to engage critically. In part, this is because it is itself evolving across and within disciplines – Putnam’s latest paper, for example, based on a massive research project has reached the conclusion that ethnic diversity decreases social capital, this with scarcely a mention of racism and its underlying determinants. In addition, social capital continues to influence the diverse directions and content of separate disciplines as they respond to the current intellectual climate of economics imperialism, on the one hand, and the dual retreat from postmodernism and neo-liberalism on the other.
The aim of the working group is to develop a platform for the exchange of ideas and research that offer critical but constructive responses to recent literature on social capital. For the time-being, the present site will serve to host papers that address these issues. We also welcome discussions and suggestions for ways to further expand the activities and participation of the working group.
For the best website on social capital (although generally supportive, it does cover critical literature) see http://www.socialcapitalgateway.org.
To apply to join IIPPE social capital working group, email iippe@soas.ac.uk.
As coordinator of the IIPPE social capital working group, I would like to inform you of a conference that will be held in Paris, France, 5-8 July 2012, and jointly organised by the Association for Heterodox Economics (AHE), the French Association of Political Economy (FAPE), and the International Initiative for Promoting Political Economy (IIPPE). The conference theme is "Political Economy and the Outlook for Capitalism" and aims at bringing together scholars from all strands of political economy and heterodox economics in order to discuss their future and the recent developments in the global economy and in economic science following the global economic crisis. Further details on specific topics and important dates are included in the call for papers I have attached. (For relevant information, you can also consult the website at http://www.assoeconomiepolitique.org/political-economy-outlook-for-capitalism/).
For this conference, I would like to propose a panel with a general theme on the contribution of Pierre Bourdieu in economics. Pierre Bourdieu (1930-2002) is a French sociologist, who has used the concept of social capital, along with forms of cultural and symbolic capital, to explain the reproduction of capitalist social structures and power relations. Also, he is known for his personal engagement in social struggles against neoliberal globalisation, and his active participation in the movement for intellectual autonomy and the protection of public interest.
Almost a decade after his death, and in the midst of the worst recession that the world has experienced since WWII, Bourdieu's works and views on neoliberalism, the role of academia, and the need for resistance at a global scale are today more relevant than ever before. I think that the conference offers a great opportunity to discuss the difficulties of our times and Bourdieu's contribution in this regard. I thus invite you to submit papers and ideas for a panel that will focus on Bourdieu's work.
Abstracts should be submitted to Asimina Christoforou (asimina@aueb.gr) by the end of January, 2012.
Looking forward to hearing from you!
Asimina Christoforou
PhD, Department of International and European Economic Studies, Athens University of Economics and Business (Greece).
The Third International Conference in Political Economy will take place in Paris July 5-8, 2012 and it is jointly organised by the Association for Heterodox Economics (AHE), the French Association of Political Economy (FAPE), and the International Initiative for Promoting Political Economy (IIPPE). The conference theme is "Political Economy and the Outlook for Capitalism". This major event aims to bring together scholars from all strands of political economy in order to develop a widespread discussion about the recent developments in the global economy and in economic science following the global economic crisis.
As member of the IIPPE social capital working group, I would like to propose a panel on “social capital, trust and public spirit”. In the last three years the global political economy has been experiencing uncertainty and instability not only under the international financial perspective but also under a more institutional one: Arab Spring, European Crisis, “Greek” crisis and so on. Social Capital, Trust and Public Sprit are part of this scenario acting as factors able to affect and/or to be affected by economic, institutional and financial instability. The panel aims to open an interesting discussion about the role of social capital, trust and public spirit in relation to economic and institutional aspects. Empirical as well as theoretical papers are welcome. The analysis can be at regional, country or cross-country level.
Abstracts should be submitted to Luca Andriani (luca.andriani@bbk.ac.uk) by the end of January 2012.
I am looking forward to hearing from you
Luca Andriani
Lecturer Economics, Department of Management, Birkbeck College University of London, UK.