Comparing Conceptualizations of Social Capital

Social work is ideally suited to use social capital to understand societal ills and to conduct a more holistic exploration of power, privilege, and oppression that affects marginalized individuals and groups. To that end, we review how prominent theorists discuss social capital and offer guidance fo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of community practice 2009-11, Vol.17 (4), p.424-443
Main Authors: Aguilar, Jemel P., Sen, Soma
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Community Development
Cultural Capital
Karl Marx
Marginality
Pierre Bourdieu
social capital
social networks
Social Work
social work macro practice
theoretical frameworks
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Summary:Social work is ideally suited to use social capital to understand societal ills and to conduct a more holistic exploration of power, privilege, and oppression that affects marginalized individuals and groups. To that end, we review how prominent theorists discuss social capital and offer guidance for community practitioners based on these conceptualizations. In opposition to purely micro-level theories of human behavior in the social environment that inadvertently separate micro and macro-level social work, social capital is particularly well suited to be employed at individual, family, community, and societal levels. Our position on the importance of social capital for social work practice is in congruence with social work perspective on the person-in-environment. Although we do not offer a social capital framework for community practice, we hope that our article informs community practitioners' understanding of the place and importance of social capital for communities.
ISSN:1070-5422
1543-3706
DOI:10.1080/10705420903299979