Gender, social capital and location: understanding the interactions

Abstract

In recent years, governments in many post‐industrial nations have re‐discovered ‘community’. Social capital and neighbourhood renewal are key concepts underpinning policies aimed at building the capacities of communities to respond to the problems facing them. Despite the apparent consensus amongst Anglo‐American governments about the use of social capital, and related concepts, as a guide for policy formulation these ideas remain hotly contested amongst social policy commentators. Against a general backdrop of disquiet about the application of social capital initiatives to communities facing significant social and economic challenges, some commentators highlight the curious inattention to gender in debates about social capital. This is all the more troubling given the apparent reliance of social capital initiatives on the informal network‐building activities often undertaken by women. In this article we present findings from an empirical study of social capital creation across four geographically diverse communities. We show that the relationship between gender and social capital is complex. We argue that the ‘one‐size‐fits‐all’ approach to social capital formulation fails to recognise gendered patterns of social capital formulation, but so, too, do analyses of gender that neglect the complex interactions between gender and other factors, particularly location, age and income. We argue for approaches to policy formulation that recognise local differences, including differences between and amongst men and women in social capital creation.

Local Community Group Participation: Who Participates and What Aspects of Neighbourhood Matter?

“…This is in contrast to other studies that found that men have higher levels of involvement in community groups more generally (Healy et al, 2007). However, it is not surprising that women were more likely to participate locally, as this is consistent with other research that has noted that women's social activities are more likely than men's to be located within their local environments (Ellaway et al, 2001;Kavanagh et al, 2006).…”

Like a Fish Out of Water: Reconsidering Disaster Recovery and the Role of Place and Social Capital in Community Disaster Resilience

“…These findings are congruent with previous studies demonstrating a gendered distribution of access to power and the apparent lack of gendered analysis in social capital initiatives despite the seminal social networking role women play in communities (Healy et al 2007).…”

Equal Numbers, Equal Chances? A Case Study of Gender Differences in the Distribution of Social Capital in Smallholder Farmer Groups in Búzi District, Mozambique

“…Organizing meetings in the communities, allowing women to return at the end of the day, or providing for the loss of female labour could increase female participation in such events. This paper has addressed the complexity of social capital and gender issues in farmer groups, and the lack of analyzing gender issues in the social capital debate (Molinas, 1998;Agarwal, 2001;Mayoux, 2001;Molyneux, 2002;Adkins, 2005;Healy et al, 2006). It draws our attention towards the remaining challenges in fully achieving gender equity, as promoted by many organizations working in research and development.…”

“…However, women are not (more) altruistic per se and therefore do not question power relations, but their cooperative behaviour is rooted in their restricted economic capabilities, greater dependencies that reflect unequal power relations between the gender groups, leading also to differences in conflictive or cooperative behaviour (Molyneux, 2002;Westermann et al, 2005). The analysis of gender and social capital is a complex issue, and a one-size-fits-all approach fails to capture gendered differences in creating and manifesting social capital (Healy et al, 2006). 'A gender-aware approach to social capital has to begin not just by recognizing but also by problematizing the fact that women are very often central to the forms of social capital that development agencies and governments are keen to mobilize in their poverty-relief and community development programmes.'…”