Foundations+of+Social+Theory


 * Coleman – Foundations of Social Theory**

Summary by Sonja Thesis: Society is not a collection of selfish individuals, all separately working to achieve independent goals. In preceeding chapters, Coleman explained that social interdependence and systemic functioning arise because one actor has an interest in something that another actor controls. Social capital is created “when the relations among persons change in ways that facilitate action” (304). It is complementary to physical capital. For example, if A does something for B, B feels beholden to A. Social capital facilitates extreme trustworthiness, as seen in savings cooperatives. This social capital is useful in different ways to different actors at different times. Essentially, actors have a network of “credit slips” that they can cash in for favors at a later date. Rational actors create these obligations because it becomes a kind of insurance policy. The favor one does for another also is worth more to the one receiving than the one giving. · **Information potential:** One actor provides information to another. That information facilitates action. A form of social capital. · **Norms and effective sanctions:** Norms can be a powerful form of social capital. Norms can either be constraining or freeing on behavior. Young nations might follow these norms more than older. · **Authority Relations:** For example, when a lot of nations put their military protection in the hands of the US, they are receiving a service, and the US has a lot of social capital in the form of control. Eliminates the free-rider problem as well. · **Appropriate Social Organizations:** An organization brought into being for one reason can facilitate social capital exchange. · **International Organizations:** Can create social capital by the ability for the group to be used for other purposes. Can also create a public good, in which whose who are not in the group may be beholden to those in the group. “The power of an actor in the equilibrium linear system of action is a direct measure of the social capital available to the actor within that system” 315. Social capital is a public good, in that it can be acquired by anyone. But in some cases it is not desirable to ask for an actor’s help, because of the cost that can be incurred later. It can be intangible, and can sometimes appear and disappear without warning. Difficult to study! Social capital networks that are “closed” (i.e. there is a full loop of social capital) are achieved because weaker actors want to gain strength. If social organizations or social relations are disrupted, it can hinder social capital. Ideology can force social capital (as in the mandate to do “good works”) or hinder it (as in a culture that espouses self-sufficiency. Finally, social capital is a resource that depreciates over time.
 * Chapter 12: Social Capital**