Journal article
A sign of the times: To have or to be? Social capital or social cohesion?
Social science & medicine (1982), v 159, pp 127-131
Jun 2016
PMID: 27180257
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Among various social factors associated with health behavior and disease, social cohesion has not captured the imagination of public health researchers as much as social capital as evidenced by the subsuming of social cohesion into social capital and the numerous studies analyzing social capital and the comparatively fewer articles analyzing social cohesion and health. In this paper we provide a brief overview of the evolution of the conceptualization of social capital and social cohesion and we use philosopher Erich Fromm’s distinction between “having” and “being” to understand the current research focus on capital over cohesion. We argue that social capital is related to having while social cohesion is related to being and that an emphasis on social capital leads to individualizing tendencies that are antithetical to cohesion. We provide examples drawn from the literature where this conflation of social capital and cohesion results in non-concordant definitions and subsequent operationalization of these constructs. Beyond semantics, the practical implication of focusing on “having” vs. “being” include an emphasis on understanding how to normalize groups and populations rather than providing those groups space for empowerment and agency leading to health.
•Social cohesion is often studied as part of social capital.•A theoretical articulation of the consequences of this conflation is lacking.•Fromm’s distinction of “having” and “being” may explain emphasis on social capital.•Subsuming cohesion into capital discourages empowerment strategies leading to health.•Examples of measurement of both concepts show how this conflation is problematic.
Metrics
Details
- Title
- A sign of the times: To have or to be? Social capital or social cohesion?
- Creators
- Maria A. Carrasco - BloombergUsama Bilal - Bloomberg
- Publication Details
- Social science & medicine (1982), v 159, pp 127-131
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Urban Health Collaborative
- Web of Science ID
- WOS:000377838000015
- Scopus ID
- 2-s2.0-84966322302
- Other Identifier
- 991019189032904721
UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
This publication has contributed to the advancement of the following goals:
InCites Highlights
Data related to this publication, from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool:
- Web of Science research areas
- Public, Environmental & Occupational Health
- Social Sciences, Biomedical