Revisiting social capital and social network research: inequality in social relations and structure

Social capital and social networks research have tended to operate as distinct bodies of literature. Expanding on earlier attempts to codify these two lines of research, the authors develop a typology of four approaches to the study of relationships - relationalist, egocentric, holistic, and community - that span the intellectual terrain of social capital and social networks research. They find many examples of social capital and social networks research coexisting within each category. The concepts and methodological strategies deployed by social capital and social networks research vary somewhat, but the foundational (ontological and epistemological) assumptions within each category are highly similar. The intra-category overlap is especially pronounced among studies that examine inequality. This suggests that research on deficits in social resources, power, and autonomy offers the greatest promise for integrating insights from the social capital and social networks perspectives.