Social capital's fortune: an introduction

The main aim of this contribution is to retrace the intellectual history of the concept of social capital and explain the reasons of its recent fortune. The earliest use of the concept can be found in Lyda J Hanifan in the second decade of the twentieth century. By social capital he meant the progressive way in which a community, its spirit and its joint activities, is built. He identified social capital, anticipating the modern use of the concept, with the building of social connections and sociability. It is only sixty years after Hanifan’s contribution, that the concept of social capital receives a systematic treatment by two sociologists, James Coleman and Pierre Bourdieu. They both arrived at a theoretical definition of the concept as a way of systematizing the effects on social relations. They elaborated different theories with different purposes in mind. Coleman’s main intention was to provide a framework for his intuition that the social relations characterizing the social structure within which individuals act are also a “resource” for individuals. Bourdieu also conceived social capital as the “resources” that come from belonging to a group; but his interest in it originated from his attempt to sketch a general theory of social reproduction. However, the merit of firmly establish the concept of social capital in the academic and public discourse must be attributed to Robert Putnam. He put forward the hypothesis that social capital is a good predictor of political and economic performance and it is an important component of general well being and policy intervention. There are various reasons which explain the recent success and diffusion of the concept. It offered a theory through which to interpret the causal relationship between different macro-­‐ aspect of the society but on the same time it identified a series of micro-­‐mechanisms through which to analyse the functioning of society; it is easily applicable to a variety of research and disciplinary fields; it has been found amenable to measurement; it can be made object of policy design and policy making.