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Multicultural Community Development, Social Capital and Social Disorganization: Exploring Urban Areas in the United States

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Multicultural Education in Glocal Perspectives

Abstract

We have three goals in this exploratory study. First, we aim to introduce two distinctive lines of social theories (i.e., social capital and social disorganization) drawn from sociological research and community development research, respectively. Second, we intend to delineate conceptual interfaces of the two theories. Third, most importantly, we wish to discuss what implications can be drawn from the conceptual linkages of the theories in light of the multicultural community development. As an exploratory study, we used a small-scale aggregate dataset from Putnam’s social capital survey and U.S. census data from 24 cities. Findings suggest that as racial diversity increased, informal socializing decreased, or vice versa, in the U.S. context. Implications for multicultural community development are offered with a focus on fostering socialization across racial lines.

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea grant funded by the Korean government (NRF-2014S1A3A2044609).

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Notes

  1. 1.

    We are aware that there is a growing criticism of Putnam’s conceptualization of social capital as community social capital since he simply operationalized aggregates of individuals’ possession as community social capital (cf. Johnson 2012). Despite this issue in Putnam’s research, it is hard to deny his contribution to explaining societal or community development in connection with social capital.

  2. 2.

    Some parts of this section were adapted from our previous work (Lee 2010; Madyun and Lee 2008, 2010a).

  3. 3.

    Some parts of this section were adapted from our previous work (Madyun and Lee 2008, 2010a).

  4. 4.

    The cities involved in this study are as follows: Atlanta Metro (GA), Baton Rouge (LA), Birmingham Metro (AL), Bismarck (ND), Boston (MA), Chicago Metro (IL), Cincinnati Metro (OH), Cleveland (OH), Denver (CO), Detroit Metro (MI), Fremont (MI), Grand Rapids (MI), Greensboro (NC), Houston (TX), Lewiston-Auburn (ME), Minneapolis (MN), Phoenix (AZ), Rochester Metro (NY), San Francisco (CA), Seattle (WA), St. Paul (MN), Syracuse (NY), Winston-Salem (NC), and Yakima (WA).

  5. 5.

    For details of social capital related measures such as scale, see Saguaro Seminar Report 2001.

  6. 6.

    However, Frey (2014) also indicates that despite the traditional pattern of White flight, there has been a growing number of suburban areas where ethnic minority people either substantially or predominantly reside.

  7. 7.

    See Madyun and Lee’s (2010a) study for more details.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, Minneapolis, USA

    Na’im Madyun

  2. University of Canberra, Canberra, Australia

    Moosung Lee

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  1. Na’im Madyun
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  2. Moosung Lee
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Correspondence to Moosung Lee .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Education, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea (Republic of)

    Yun-Kyung Cha

  2. Institute of Education, University of London, London, United Kingdom

    Jagdish Gundara

  3. Department of Education, Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea (Republic of)

    Seung-Hwan Ham

  4. University of Canberra, Canberra, Aust Capital Terr, Australia

    Moosung Lee

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Madyun, N., Lee, M. (2017). Multicultural Community Development, Social Capital and Social Disorganization: Exploring Urban Areas in the United States. In: Cha, YK., Gundara, J., Ham, SH., Lee, M. (eds) Multicultural Education in Glocal Perspectives. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2222-7_9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2222-7_9

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