A growing number oi sociologists, political scientists, economists, and organizational theorists have invoked the concept of social capital in the search for answers to a broadening range of questions being confronted in their own fields. Seeking to clarify the concept and help assess its utility for organizational theory, we synthesize the theoretical research undertaken in these various disciplines and develop a common conceptual framework that identifies the sources, benefits, risks, and contingencies of social capital.The concept of social capital has become increasingly popular in a wide range of social science disciplines. A growing number of sociologists, political scientists, and economists have invoked the concept of social capital in the search for answers to a broadening range of questions being confronted in their own fields. Social capital-understood roughly as the goodwill that is engendered by the fabric of social relations and that can be mobilized to facilitate action-has informed the study of families, youth behavior problems, schooling and education, public health, community life, democracy and governance, economic development, and general problems of collective action (for overviews, see

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This paper traces the main lines of evolution of the organization of professional work. The argument is illustrated with material on the case of doctors and hospitals. While market and hierarchy principles have become progressively more salient in professional work, we argue that, in parallel, the community principle has been growing more influential, too. We further argue that professional community is mutating from a Gemeinschaft, craft guild form, via Gesellschaft forms, toward a new, collaborative form. This evolution, however, is a difficult one, and the outcome is uncertain. We identify some implications for future research.

Over the past decade social capital has matured from a concept into a field of research. We identify some of the main theoretical developments over this period and point to some areas where further work appears warranted. We argue that the basic social capital thesis has now been widely accepted across a range of disciplines and fields, and that research is therefore naturally shifting toward more specific aspects and mechanisms.