Social Capital in Europe. A Comparative Regional Analysis

223 Pages·2012·1.808 MB·English

by  Emanuele Ferragina

SOCIAL CAPITAL IN EUROPE S
O
‘This book is a must for anyone interested in the concept of social capital.’ C
– Martin Seeleib-Kaiser, University of Oxford, UK I
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‘The quantitative survey of social capital at the regional level is an original
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contribution that opens a fresh geographic perspective on the literature in this

field. Moving beyond the statistical representation of regional patterns his use C
of case studies illuminates how local culture and historical contexts influence
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the manifestations of social capital. This volume breaks new ground challenging
conventional analysis to advance our understanding of social capital.’ P
– Neil Gilbert, University of California, USA
I
T
‘Social Capital in Europe dismantles Robert Putnam’s theoretical model by A
critically discussing the most prominent international literature in the field
L EMANUELE FERRAGINA
by analyzing a large bulk of empirical and historical evidence. According to
Putnam, the lack of social capital in the South of Italy is dated back to medieval I
history and his ‘historical determinism’ that seems to erase every influence N
of contemporary social phenomena, is largely contradicted by Ferragina. The
SOCIAL CAPITAL
book includes a comparative study that shows the role of economic structures E
and regional peculiarities in the determination of the different degree of social
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participation in European regions.’
– Piero Bevilacqua, University of Rome, Italy R
O IN EUROPE
‘The concept of social capital has enjoyed increasing vogue among social
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scientists. Historians have been mobilized to support the importance of this
concept in various ways, and in turn they have increasingly relied on it. The E
historian will find in this book both a definitive guide to the theoretical debate
behind this controversial concept and an impressive demonstration of how it
can be used to produce comparative historical analysis.’ A COMPARATIVE
– Agostino Inguscio, Yale University, USA
REGIONAL ANALYSIS
This book investigates the determinants of social capital across 85 European
regions, capturing the renewed interest among social capital theorists E
regarding the importance of active secondary groups which support the correct M
functioning of society and its democratic institutions. By complementing A
socio-economic explanations with a comparative historic-institutional N
analysis between two deviant cases (Wallonia and the south of Italy) and two
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regular cases (Flanders and the north east of Italy), Emanuele Ferragina’s
E
findings suggest that income inequality, labour market participation and
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national divergence are important factors in explaining the lack of social E
capital. Furthermore, the traditional historical determinism is refuted with the
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formulation of the sleeping social capital theory.
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R
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Emanuele Ferragina is at the University of Oxford, UK.
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CONTACT Andy Driver JOB NO 0958 DATE SENT 26.06.12 TITLE Social Capital in Europe EDITOR Madhubanti Bhattacharyya
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Social Capital in Europe
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To Giuditta Levato, Napoleone Colajanni and all who fought to
defend a lost cause. I learned from you there is a south everywhere,
a south to struggle for.
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Social Capital in
Europe
A Comparative Regional Analysis
Emanuele Ferragina
University of Oxford, UK
Edward Elgar
Cheltenham, UK • Northampton, MA, USA
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© Emanuele Ferragina 2012
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical or photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior
permission of the publisher.
Published by
Edward Elgar Publishing Limited
The Lypiatts
15 Lansdown Road
Cheltenham
Glos GL50 2JA
UK
Edward Elgar Publishing, Inc.
William Pratt House
9 Dewey Court
Northampton
Massachusetts 01060
USA
A catalogue record for this book
is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Control Number: 2012939106
ISBN 978 1 78100 021 2
Typeset by Servis Filmsetting Ltd, Stockport, Cheshire
Printed and bound by MPG Books Group, UK
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Contents
Preface vi
PART 1 THE METHODOLOGICAL TOOLBOX
1. Introduction 3
2. Measuring social capital 19
3. Why we need a regional analysis 42
PART 2 THE SOCIO- ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
4. Social capital in European regions 69
5. The determinants of social capital 94
6. Explaining social capital variation across Europe 112
PART 3 THE DIVERGENT CASES
7. Why does social capital ‘sleep’? 131
8. Fraternal twins: institutional evolution and social capital 133
9. Conclusion 179
Bibliography 194
Index 217
v
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Preface
Some books present fresh evidence; others make arguments that urge the reader
to see old problems in a new light. This work is decidedly of the latter sort.
Theda Skocpol
A friend of mine, having listened to my complaints about the complexity
and apparent unfairness of fi nding post- doctoral research opportuni-
ties pointed out that I should not forget where I came from. This homily
aroused my deep curiosity, and implied cliché, namely the suff ocating dif-
fi culties which confront émigrés coming from a backward environment,
in my case Southern Italy, with its limited social mobility and academic
aridity. I was reminded that I have been armed with a unique geographical
DNA to undertake a comparative assessment on the nature of diff erent
macro- systems, implicit in my friend’s comment, and to form an outlook
on the nature of social relation.
Two important studies, Tracce di Comunità (Bagnasco 1999) and
Making Democracy Work (Putnam 1993), and Professor Nicola Negri’s
lectures on economic sociology at University of Turin, were inspirational
sources, the building blocks needed to construct a general review of social
networks and trust in society. But it was only after leaving my homeland
that, with a diff erent perspective, I have been able to elaborate my interest
for these issues, and to distil my focus to a few key variables.
I have turned my interest in social ties into the measurement of social
capital, have fashioned quantitative models supported by general theory,
and have analysed the nature of social relations with a comparative his-
torical analysis. Refi ning my research questions has allowed me to reach
a provisional synthesis between my theoretical understanding of social
capital and the application of a comparative method geared on empirical
analysis.
vi
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PART 1
The Methodological Toolbox
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1. Introduction
Social capital theorists have renewed the old interest in the importance
of active secondary groups in supporting well run political institutions in
modern democracies (see Bourdieu and Passeron 1970; Bourdieu 1980;
1986; Putnam 1993; 2000). Putnam (1993) unifi ed quantitative and his-
torical analyses, arguing that the lack of social capital in the South of
Italy was more the product of a peculiar historical development than the
consequence of a set of contemporary socio- economic conditions. This
conclusion has sparked a lengthy debate and received fi erce criticism (see
Ferragina 2010a).
Criticism has hitherto mainly focused on the lack of awareness of
the structural socio- economic conditions of society (see Skocpol 1996;
Skocpol et al. 2000; Thomson 2005), as for example, the level of income
inequality (Knack and Keefer 1997; Costa and Kahn 2003; O’Connel
2003), and the excessive determinism of the historical analysis (Lupo 1993;
Lemann 1996; Tarrow 1996). These two criticisms are integrated by ana-
lysing 85 European regions, revisiting Putnam’s hypothesis and contribut-
ing to the debate on the determinants of social capital. More specifi cally,
the scope of the book is to: (1) test the impact of four socio-e conomic pre-
dictors (that is, income inequality, economic development, labour market
participation and national divergence) on social capital through a causal
model, and (2) integrate rather than simply juxtapose socio- economic
and historic- institutional explanations of social capital variation with the
analysis of two deviant cases.
Following Tocqueville, Putnam argued that nations need strong social
participation in order to guarantee the functioning of democratic institu-
tions. However, Putnam (1993) did not take into account Tocqueville’s
(1961: 8) main explanation about the high level of social participation
in 1830s America; the widespread condition of equality. In accordance
with Tocqueville’s argument and following a large bulk of empirical
work (Knack and Keefer 1997; Costa and Kahn 2003; O’Connel 2003;
Beugelsdijk and Van Schaik 2005a; Ferragina 2010a) this book tests the
eff ect of income inequality and economic development on social capital.
It has also been argued (Gorz 1992: 182) that the ability to work provides
a sense of participation and membership in societal activities among
3
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