Social and Human Capital: The Search for Appropriate Technomethodology

Abstract

This paper acknowledges the power of human capital as a concept but points to a number of question marks against it, notably in the appropriateness of the approaches to measuring it, and the scope of learning which it covers. These same queries are applied to the emerging notion of social capital and the different ways in which it has been interpreted. Given the diversity of interpretations which this reveals, I ask whether the concept of social capital has suf cient coherence to contribute to analytical and policy thinking, as human capital has. I conclude that although its robustness as a conventional tool of analysis may be in question, its utility as a heuristic device is potentially great, but also that we need to match measurement approaches carefully to its potential.

The value of extended networks: Social capital in an ICT intervention in rural Peru

“…This observation confirms Schuller's (2000) criticism of the traditional human capital measurements-that years of formal education do not provide a good understanding of individual capacities. Our informants are keen on lifelong learning, not only through formal education but also through informal channels.…”

El perfil del turista internacional de Cozumel a partir de la construcción de su capital simbólico

“…Asimismo se entienden las reciprocidades materiales y simbólicas, es decir, se hace referencia a la confianza entre sujetos que pertenecen al mis mo grupo social; al cuidado y la preocupación mutua; a la voluntad de los su je tos para vivir conforme a las reglas del grupo social del que forman parte (Schuller, 2000); por lo tanto, adquieren algún tipo de capital simbólico por el so lo hecho de pertenecer.…”

Capitals and commitment: the case of a local learning and employment network

“…Learning both as a process of gaining and managing information and of continuously updating skill has gained an equivalent place in emerging society as that fulfilled by productiveness in early modern society (Strain, 2000). In this context, reference to human capital in particular has become ascendant in a range of policy landscapes of Western governments with emphases ranging from improved schooling and expanded initial education, through concerns with vocational and workplace training and on to a broader concern with lifelong learning (Schuller, 2000). This concern with human capital as the accumulation of knowledge and skills, competencies and attributes, embodied in a person and typically considered in terms of the economic benefits that derive, either directly or indirectly, from such knowledge and skills (OECD, 2001) has, however, been critiqued for its failure to engage with other forms of capital:…”