Social Capital

This week, I am going to discuss the topic of social capital, or the social networks and interactions that help to shape an individual or a community as a whole. These social networks within a community help to encourage interactions with others in a healthy and diverse environment.

For example, within my social network I need to consider my family, friends and schoolmates. Several relationships exist within and between each of these categories, forming a complex network. This network assists to improve connectivity and access to all components of my social capital. Some of the relationships that are within my social network are shown below in the diagram which helps to visualize the concept of social capital:

As you can see, there are some key nodes in the above diagram where a lot of intersections occur, especially between relationships involving my family and friends. These nodes are critical to maintaining good social capital. Through the nodes created within a social network, bonding with family, friends and your community can occur where trust and closer relationships develop, another major part of social capital.

I really want to emphasize how much social capital depends on connectivity within a community. This does not just depend on the social interactions that occur, but other factors as well such as how we travel between places, or the types of activities we are involved in. For example, I feel that driving in an automobile isolates me from others in the community, and therefore decreases my social capital as opposed to walking where I can talk with others and enjoy the environment my community has to offer.

Another aspect to consider is vertical equity within a social network. It is important to make sure all members of the community are involved and interconnected with leaders and decision makers, so that all are involved in the processes which help to form the community. This too increases social capital. Within my own community I feel as though there is not a lot of civic engagement. In fact, the last election had an all-time low voter turnout of 14%, leading me to conclude that my social capital is diminished regarding vertical equity within my community.

The overall social capital one attains is very connected to the sustainability of a community. For example, as I mentioned earlier, I feel more isolated when driving, thereby decreasing my social capital. However I also consider a community where everyone needs to drive to be less connected and therefore sustainable. Interestingly, I feel as though my community is currently developing in an unsustainable manner, but I feel as though I have a fairly high degree of social capital. By using the networks and nodes created within the social fabric of my community, I can encourage more sustainable choices and actions through active community involvement.