Open But Segregated? Class Divisions And the Network Structure of Social Capital in Chile

Abstract

This paper studies how social capital is divided across classes in Chile, one of the most unequal countries in the world. We analyse the extent to which upper-, middle-, and lower class individuals congregate in social networks with similar others, while following Bourdieu and expecting that in particular the networks of the higher social strata are segregated in terms of social capital. We test our argument with large-scale, representative survey data for the Chilean urban population aged 18–75 years (n = 2,517) and build an integrated indicator of people’s social class that combines measures of education, occupational class, and household income. Our regression analyses show that upper-class individuals have larger networks and access to more varied and prestigious social resources than their middle- and lower class counterparts. Interestingly, however, we found a U-shaped relationship between social class and class homogeneity, indicating that network segregation is high at the top as well as at the bottom of the class-based social strata. In contrast, the classes in the middle have more heterogeneous class networks, possibly forming an important bridge between the “edges” of the class structure. These findings demonstrate that whereas social and economic capital cumulates in higher classes, the lower classes are socially deprived next to their economic disadvantage.

Space and social capital: social contacts in a segregated city

“…They indicate that space complements and reinforces the well-known relationship between social class and social capital (e.g. Otero, Volker et al, 2021). Residents of marginalized areas have reduced access to social capital, especially in terms of contact variety and contact prestige, which is in line with earlier studies (e.g.…”

“…Social capital researchers have been especially concerned with understanding the association between social class and social capital in different countries, including Chile (see Otero, Volker et al, 2021). Several endeavors have focused on examining the role of space in access to social capital and the degree of homogeneity of such network resources (e.g.…”

Networks in lockdown: The consequences of COVID-19 for social relationships and feelings of loneliness

“…Hence, they can afford being, on average, more selective with whom to interact. The closure of social strata has been shown to be more severe at the top ( Lin, 2001 , Otero et al, 2021 ). Consequently, I expect that people in higher social strata, i.e., with higher education, are more selective when they choose interaction partners during the lockdown, implying that they might select more strongly on resourceful alters.…”

Who you know: The classed structure of social capital

“…If so, does this pertain to distinct social divisions not just between social classes, but also within them? Such questions are at the core of contemporary class and stratification research centered on the notion of social capital (see e.g., Flap & Volker, 2008; Li et al., 2008; Otero et al., 2021; Savage et al., 2015).…”

“…Otero et al (2021) have shown that upper-class individuals in Chile have larger networks and can access more varied and prestigious resources than their middle-and lower-class counterparts, while the middle class functions as a 'bridge' between the segregated upper and lower classes Bian et al (2005). study of urban China indicates that individuals located in different class positions are less likely to have contact with one another.…”