Initially, Social Capital was used to reveal how family affects schooling; in the past decade, it has come to explain why nations, communities and individuals are rich or poor in every respect. No area of socio-economic analysis and policy has been left untouched by what the World Bank describes as the missing link to development, from Russia and the Third World, to the ghettoes of North America. Ben Fine traces the origins of social capital through the work of Becker, Bourdieu and Coleman, and comprehensively reviews the literature across the social sciences. Social Capital versus Social Theory is uniquely critical of social capital, explaining how it avoids a proper confrontation with political economy and, as a result of its origins and evolution, has become chaotic.
The following major themes are addressed: * the shifting relationship between economics and other social sciences as economics forces itself upon neighbouring disciplines * how shcolarly integrity is being prejudiced by the concepts of "publish or perish" and punditry * how social capital purports to steer a delicate course between neo-liberalism and statism, whilst in fact neglecting political economy, power and conflict * how a genuine interdisciplinary across the social sciences requires a place for political economy together with, rather than a retreat into, cultural and social theory. This highly topical text will be of great interest to advanced students, researchers and academics, as well as professionals involved in public policy.