Capital, Social Capital and Religious Capital

Abstract

In this chapter I will explore the efficacy of the social capital idea by setting it in the context of its critics. There have been many.Some have noted how social capital is ‘a nebulous concept that can include anything from how parents interact with their children to how people feel about where they live, to whom they know, how much they use their “networks” and how much they trust their politicians’ (Morrow 1999, p. 749). Morrow argues too that ‘it is gender blind, ethnocentric and arguably a concept imported from the US without due attention to cross and inter-cultural differences’ (1999, p. 749). Ben Fine also suggests that ‘social capital has a gargantuan appetite’ (in morrow 2001, p. 12) and in this sense it has been used to explain ‘everything from individuals to societies’ (in morrow 2001, p. 12).

[there has been the] colonization of other disciplines by the dismal science … [via] … unwitting transposition of concepts. (Fine 2001, p. 5)

Spiritual/religious capital complements the concept of social capital, which refers to the sets of relationships in any organisation or community. (Baker & Skinner 2005, p. 11)