Blog 5 My social capital and what affects it

Social capital reminds me of the force. In the words of the great Jedi Master Yoda “The force surrounds us and binds us. Luminous beings are we not this crude matter. You must feel the Force around you. Here, between you, me, the tree, the rock...everywhere! Even between the land and the ship”.
My take on social capital is that it’s the thing that brings everyone together, which then can allow people to work together for a common goal, either to fight the dark side, or increase our sense of community and improve our way of living.

In class we learned that social capital comes from many different factors, and our professor had us draw out our social capital network so that we can see how everything is related with another, and how it defines us in a community which then leads to our social capital.

There seems to different definitions of social capital available to us. Bourdieu (1985:248; 1980) first defined the concept as “the aggregate of the actual or potential resources which are linked to possession of a durable network of more of less institutionalized relationships of mutual acquaintance or recognition”. Another perspective of social capital sees it as friends, colleagues, and more general contacts through which you receive opportunities to use your financial and human capital” Burt (1992: 9). Many analysts have emphasized the centrality of two factors to social capital: trust and social networks (Portes 1998; Putnam 1993; Woolcock 1998; Fukuyama 1995; Misztral 1996).


My social capital stems from many different factors. In the next 9 or so months, school will be a main contributing factor to my social capital. I do plan on attending a post graduate program, if possible, so my school life will continue to contribute to my social capital for 2 years after Royal Roads. My concern for the environment its another aspect of my social capital, which is connected to my school and friends.

In the realm of social capital, I am a node connecting my school network to my friend network to my family network and to my hobby network. In my social capital, I don’t believe that I have much vertical connections. I don’t have much contact with school administration, nor with local politicians or even bosses, since I am currently unemployed. There is a fair amount of bonding and bridging through between my networks, since they all overlap each other.

I do not belong to any groups, volunteer or otherwise, so that may lower my social capital. I don’t commute far or watch TV (sadly no time for that) which brings up my social capital.

Overall, I feel that I am in a good standing in terms of my social capital. There is always room for improvement