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Beyond Putnam Robert Putnam's work contributed to shape the discussion of the importance of social capital. His conclusions have been praised but also criticised. Criticism has mainly focused on: the lack of awareness of the structural socio-economic conditions of society (see Skocpol 1996;[57] Skocpol et al. 2000;[58] Thomson 2005[59]), as for example, the level of income inequality (Knack and Keefer 1997;[60] Costa and Kahn 2003;[61] O'Connel 2003;[62] Ferragina 2010[63]) the excessive determinism of the historical analysis (Lupo 1993;[64] Lemann 1996;[65] Tarrow 1996[66]). Ferragina (2012;[18] 2013) integrated the insights of these two criticisms and proposed a cross-regional analysis of 85 European regions, linking together the socio-economic and the historic- institutional analyses to explore the determinants of social capital. He argued that to investigate the determinants of social capital, one has to integrate the synchronic and the diachronic perspectives under the guidance of a methodological framework able to put these two approaches in continuity. The Sleeping social capital theory Putnam’s work, nourished by doctrines like the ‘end of history’ (Fukuyama 1992[67]) was largely deterministic, and proposed the dismissal of more articulated historical interpretations. This determinism has reduced Southern Italian history as being a negative path to modernity; only the Italian regions that experienced the development of medieval towns during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries have got high levels of social capital today, the others ‘are condemned’ by the prevalence of the authoritarian rule of the Normans more than 800 years ago. However, from a purely historical perspective, the medieval town is not unanimously considered to be a symbol of freedom, creation of horizontal ties and embryo of democratic life. In Making Democracy Work, Putnam disregarded the division within municipal towns and their dearth of civic participation and considered only the experience of few areas in North Central Italy, ignoring the existence of important towns in the South.[68] To this more complicated historical picture, Ferragina (2012)[18] added the result of a regression model, which indicated that social capital in the South of Italy and Wallonia should be much lower than currently detected according to their socio-economic condition. He unfolded Putnam’s theory by undertaking a comparative analysis between these two deviant cases and two regular cases located in the same country, namely Flanders and the North of Italy. The historical legacy does not have a negative effect on the present lack of social capital in Wallonia and the South of Italy, but the potentially positive effect of the historical legacy is currently curtailed by the poor socio-economic conditions, notably by the high level of income inequality and the low level of labour market participation. This historical interpretation is driven by the comparison with Flanders and the North East of Italy. The value of the historical legacy for present socio-economic development is similar to the ‘appropriable social capital’ theorized by Coleman (1990[69]) at the individual level.[70] Using the example of the Korean students, Coleman argued that the construction of a secret network of people (at a time in which the appreciation for the authoritarian government was rapidly declining among the population) as a means of organizing the democratic revolt was the result of a process of socialization that took place during their childhood (with the involvement in the local churches). The relation between historical evolutions and the socio-economic variables has similar characteristics at the macro level.[70] Only after reaching a sufficient level of labour market activity and income redistribution (this is comparable to the growing unpopularity of the authoritarian government) can the memory of historical events of social engagement become fully appropriable by the population (this is comparable to the participation in the local churches during childhood), leading to the development of innovative forms of social participation (this is comparable to the construction of the secret circles that enhanced the democratic revolt). This process increases social capital even further if socio-economic development is matched by the revival of the unique historical legacy of the area.[71] The reconstruction of this unique past can rapidly become a source of pride for the entire area, contributing in turn to an increasing intra-regional solidarity, and with it enhancement of social networks and social trust. The Flemish case (and also to a lesser extent that of the North East of Italy) illustrates this process well. The socio-economic improvements that took place in the nineteenth century were matched by the revival of the glorious Flemish traditions of the thirteenth and fourteenth century. The increase of social capital generated by the reduction of income inequality and the increasing participation in the labour market due to the economic development was multiplied by the reconstruction of Flemish identity and pride. This pride and self- confidence has, in turn, increased the feeling of solidarity within the region and contributed to generate a level of social capital, which is hardly explicable by the single socio-economic predictors.[70] Ferragina suggests that, in the divergent cases, the value of the historical legacy is affected by the poor present socio- economic conditions. Social capital sleeps, not because of the absence of certain clearly defined historical steps as suggested by Putnam, but because socio- economic underdevelopment profoundly depressed the self-pride of Southern Italians and Walloons. The biased and simplistic interpretations of Southern Italian and Walloon history will be discarded only when their socio-economic conditions reach a sufficient level, enacting a cycle similar to Flanders and the North East of Italy. Stronger redistribution, an increase of labour market participation accompanied by a simultaneous process of ‘reinvention of the past’ could enhance a positive cycle of social capital increase in both areas. The historical legacy in these two areas should not be seen as the root of the present lack of social capital but as a potential element for improvement. Important moment of social engagement also existed in the history of these two areas; the imagery of Walloons and Southern Italians should be nourished by these almost forgotten examples of collective history (i.e. the Fasci Siciliani in the south of Italy) rather than the prevailing idea that the historical legacy of these areas is simply an original sin, a burden to carry through the process of modernization.[70] Social Capital Motives Robison and colleagues measured the relative importance of selfishness and four social capital motives using resource allocation data collected in hypothetical surveys and non-hypothetical experiments. The selfishness motive assumes that an agent's allocation of a scarce resource is independent of his relationships with others. This motive is sometimes referred to as the selfishness of preference assumption in neoclassical economics. Social capital motives assume that agents’ allocation of a scarce resource may be influenced by their social capital or sympathetic relationships with others which may produce socio-emotional goods that satisfy socio-emotional needs for validation and belonging. The first social capital motive seeks for validation by acting consistently with the values of one’s ideal self. The second social capital motive seeks to be validated by others by winning their approval. The third social capital motive seeks to belong. Recognizing that one may not be able to influence the sympathy of others, persons seeking to belong may act to increase their own sympathy for others and the organizations or institutions they represent. The fourth social capital motive recognizes that our sympathy or social capital for another person will motivate us to act in their interest. In doing so we satisfy our own needs for validation and belonging. Empirical results reject the hypothesis often implied in economics that we are 95% selfish.[72] |
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