Social Capital - What is it, why is it important, and why should we care about it?
In theoretical terms, social capital is, according to the OECD (n.d.), are “the links, shared values and understandings in society that enable individuals and groups to trust each other and to work together.'' In layman terms, social capital refers to the relationships that people build upon shared values and understanding. They help a society to function the best it can and when a society is functional, its people can thrive. We all want that, to thrive.
Social capital as a theory put forth by Robert Putnam (2000) in “Bowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community” suggest that social capital can be categorised into three different categories:
Bonding capital: Where people are brought together by their similarities
Bridging capital: Where people of differences are brought together
Linkages: The characteristics that link differences people together
In Singapore, social capital can look like a group of youths journeying together in their religion or CCA groups in schools where people of different backgrounds come together and build relationships over an activity. In contrast to Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), it can be seen in the ethnic affiliations that sometimes extend beyond the geographical borders of a country. For instance, a Croat in Bosnia may feel more linked to the national identity of Croatia than that of Bosnian.
On our field trip to the Balkans region in Eastern Europe, namely Croatia, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegonina, we visited schools, non-governmental organisations, and international organisations, and spoke to war veteran and politicians. It became apparent to us that all systems of functioning, even at different levels, play a part in the functioning of a society, and are interrelated, intertwine and affect each other bidirectionally.
Systems theory (Rogers, 2016) suggests that people can be analysed in terms of the systems, or environments, that they exist in where all systems affect each other bidirectionally. When looking at BiH, this theory becomes a simple way to understand the greater context of the country. According to Systems theory, systems are nestled within each other where the micro-system is the most intimate, the meso-system exists outside an individual and has an influence on them, and the macro-system being able to have an effect on the micro-system but not vice versa.
Despite this being so, BiH seems very disjointed both in terms of its institutions that are supposed to keep the country functioning such as schools and the government, and its reconciliation efforts in a post-conflict society.
Through this blog, we - Stephanie, Yiyi, Keng Yung, and Yi Jie - would like to share the insights that we have gained on our field trip to the Balkans as a part of our University Town College Programme module, “Rebuilding Communities: Insights to the Balkans”. After gathering our own takeaways and putting them in conversation with the more academic aspects of war and reconciliation, we have to come to believe that the actors present today in BiH such as schools and non-governmental organisations do help to facilitate the building of social capital as a means towards a better BiH in their own ways and capacities. However, the leadership and political structure of BiH may limit this as it divides the populous along ethno-religious lines. In line with Systems theory, we will be analysing BiH through looking at the various actors involved on different scales.
Read on!
Bibliography
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (n.d.). OECD Insights: Human Capital. Retrieved June 7, 2019, from https://www.oecd.org/insights/37966934.pdf
Putnam, R. D. (2000). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of american community. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Rogers, A. (2016). Human behavior in the social environment (Fourth ed.). New York: Routledge.
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