Patterns of Social Capital: Stability and Change in Historical Perspective (Studies in Interdisciplinary History) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521785758 ISBN 13: 9780521785754

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2000

Synopsis

Societies work best where citizens trust their fellow citizens, work cooperatively for common goals, and thus share a civic culture. The accumulation of reciprocal trust, as demonstrated by voluntary efforts for the creation of common goods, builds social capital and contributes to effective government. This volume advances the study of social capital across chronological and geographical space. It examines voluntary associations, comparatively and cross-culturally, as important indicators of citizen readiness for civic engagement. An important conclusion, along the way, is that social capital may not be continuous, or endure. Several of the authors wonder if the accumulation and diminution of social capital will prove cyclical. Or has there been a societal deterioration as we enter a more anonymous age? This book is ultimately about the pattern of social and civic interactions in past times, and how these patterns may no longer exist.

About this title

Review

'... these contributions are well researched, high-quality studies of the patterns of social capital in differently times and places ...'. Progress in Human Geography

Book Description

This volume examines voluntary associations, comparatively and cross-culturally, as indicators of citizen readiness for civic engagement. The book is ultimately about the pattern of social and civic interactions in past times, and how these patterns may no longer exist.

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0521785758
• ISBN 13: 9780521785754
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 408
• Editor: Rotberg Robert I.