Social Capital, Social Identities ― From Ownership to Belonging

Enlarging the semantic field, Thoma, Henning, and Schmid bring together two apparently incompatible terms—social and capital. They and their contributors analyze and assess from different interdisciplinary angles—economics, sociology, philosophy, religious studies—the tension inherent in the term social capital and look at the meaning of identity in its context. Twelve chapters/essays are: introduction; varieties of belonging: between appropriation and familiarization; cultural capital and elective belonging: a British case study; structures of belonging, types of social capital, and modes of trust; trust and cooperation among economic agents; respect, concern, and membership; social capital and self-alienation; cement of society? Why civil religion is unfit to create social bonds; the social capital of religious communities in the age of globalization; social capital and power: a sociological point of view; modernity, welfare state, and inequality; social capital, public goods, or the common good? There are notes on contributors, literature, footnotes, and tables and figures. Annotation c2015 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)

Dieter Thoma, St. Gallen, Switzerland; Hans Bernhard Schmid, Vienna, Austria;Christoph Henning, St. Gallen, Switzerland.