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The Covid-19 pandemic has created a widespread need for social support. Similar to previous crises, we can observe activation in society to meet these needs: citizens have offered practical, emotional, and financial support, often within their social networks, but also to strangers and civil society organizations. In this paper, we examine the role of social capital in receiving social support during the Covid-19 pandemic in Germany using unique micro-level survey data. We investigate the importance of three aspects of social capital – the size of one's support network, social trust, and organizational membership – for receiving (sufficient) social support. We focus on three types of support networks: family and friends, neighbors, and civil society actors. First, we find that while all three elements of social capital matter for receiving social support, a larger support network and organizational embeddedness matter primarily for receiving support beyond family and friendship networks. Second, civil society actors have been less likely to provide sufficient support in the pandemic, mainly acting in addition to strong ties and providing complementary support for individuals in particular need. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In post-conflict and segregated societies, overcoming high prejudice between groups is essential for peaceful coexistence. In this paper, we explore the roles of direct contact (face-to-face contact and cross-group friendship) and indirect contact (extended cross-group friendship) in reducing prejudice between Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots living in Cyprus. Moreover, this study further explores whether the effects of direct and indirect contact vary between Turkish Cypriots and Greek Cypriots, as well as across a ten-year period. To explore these issues, we analyze data from different representative samples of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots at two different time points (years 2007 and 2017). The results suggest that all three forms of contact have significant effects on prejudice. However, they also exhibit some variations by community (but not year of data collection) in the effects of direct (but not indirect) contact on prejudice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses how to explain the rise of a new nationalism in Europe. It begins by problematizing the inconsistencies in the current culturalist, socio-economic, and socio-political approaches. It then makes Pierre Bourdieu's theory of social space fruitful for a sociological explanation of neonationalism by removing it from the conceptional framework of national container societies. It finally shows that the transnational opening of national societies is accompanied by profound processes of symbolic appreciation and depreciation of economic, cultural, and social 'capital' that the inhabitants of the national container possess. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the use of the concept of social capital in neighbourhood renewal programmes which aim to influence social and health-related processes. Based on a social network analysis of 17 groups comprising 133 members, qualitative interviews were conducted with 22 participants to consider the kinds of patterns and connections that build up in a neighbourhood renewal project in a small, deprived neighbourhood of a provincial town in Denmark. Results show that outcomes of community participation depend on the kind of social capital generated and on who is excluded from these resources or capital. Problems hindering inclusive participatory processes include self-exclusion and exclusionary dynamics in the neighbourhood. These dynamics centre on power struggles that lead the least powerful to opt out. Thus, the Danish ‘Ghetto Strategy’, which aims to increase local community participation and volunteering, could have the unintended consequence of increasing social and health inequalities rather than reducing them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we theoretically and empirically explore the question whether the unequal distribution of different aspects of social capital (networks, trust, norms) over a number of social dimensions (gender, age, income, employment status, and educational level) is smaller in countries with more developed welfare systems. Our data cover 13 Western industrialized countries and two periods in time (1981, 1999). The paper adds to the existing literature in several ways: by focusing explicitly on the empirical study of social capital inequality, by relating this subject to (quantitative and qualitative) welfare state characteristics, and by studying it from a cross-national and longitudinal perspective. We find that in the sample of countries analyzed there is no clear relationship between social capital inequality and welfare state characteristics. However, whether generally welfare states do not reduce social capital inequalities remains an issue for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Associations are likely to recruit resource rich individuals and they are places where individuals interact, and thus, are likely to exchange social resources. The paper asks which kinds of associations embed individuals holding many social resources. According to theoretical considerations, I distinguish between bridging and bonding associations. Bridging associations are likely to embed heterogeneous individuals while bonding associations embed homogeneous individuals. Therefore, the range of social resources available inside associations may be higher in bridging than in bonding associations. Thinking about the resource exchanging environment inside the associations, a further distinction of bonding associations seems reasonable: some aim at political goals outside the group (e.g., trade unions or professional organizations) and others focus on developing a nice atmosphere inside the group (apolitical bonding associations like elderly leisure associations). I analyze data from Eurobarometer 62.2 using multilevel analyses. Descriptive analyses indicate that active individuals have access to more social resources than inactive individuals. This relation varies for apolitical and political bonding associations according to the European countries. The multilevel analyses controlling for individual characteristics and country variables indicate that potential resources accessible to individuals active in associations depend on the focus of the associations. While bridging and apolitical bonding associations embed individuals accessing more social resources than non-active individuals, political bonding associations are not likely to embed resource rich individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reaction of citizens deeply disappointed with their government and its decisions differs from country to country, and in some cases, such as Latvia during the recent economic crisis, has been surprisingly passive. In this paper I argue that political passivity can be partly explained by psychological mechanisms triggered by constant under-performance and unresponsiveness of political authorities. Using International Social Survey Program 2006–2007 data, I construct a structural equation model which shows that government's performance can facilitate or hinder the development of civil society through its impact on (1) a sense of political efficacy, (2) political competence, and (3) interpersonal trust. Poor institutional performance and the following loss of trust in political authorities has a negative effect on people's perceptions of politics, of themselves and of each other, discouraging further engagement in all kinds of political activities. Considering the importance of civic participation for the quality of governance this creates a vicious circle which might not be easy to break. Finally, several theoretical perspectives are discussed that help to explain the formation and persistence of the vicious circle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research indicates that social relationships can influence the probability of successfully finding a first job. This paper contributes to this field of research by empirically analysing the rarely studied question, if social networks can help adolescents find an apprenticeship in the strongly company-based vocational training system of Germany. In contrast to most previous studies, not only the youth's networks, but also their mothers' networks are taken into account. In addition to the social, the ethnic composition of the networks is also considered. Event data analyses of German panel data on natives and migrants from the project ‘Young Immigrants in the German and Israeli Educational System’ show that adolescents' networks have no effect on the success of an apprenticeship search. In contrast, the mothers' networks play a crucial role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper seeks to understand the way in which social capital resources are incorporated, appropriated and distributed by different social classes in Europe. Its main goal is to produce a conceptual framework by linking the concepts of social capital with the different theoretical assessments made by the sociology of social classes. We use multivariate analysis to work a set of quantitative indicators from the European Social Survey 2008 in order to assess the relationship between these concepts. Our methodological approach combines transnational levels, i.e., it is not an international comparison between European countries but an analysis of individual people and their belonging to social classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current literature there is emerging consensus about a positive correlation between countries' welfare efforts and the social capital of their inhabitants: the larger the welfare state, the more social capital its inhabitants have. This paper pulls the discussion an important step further by asking what mechanisms can be responsible for this correlation. Based on theory and previous findings, we formulate a conceptual model of how the macro–micro relationship could come about. The hypotheses are tested using Eurobarometer data. While most of the mechanisms hypothesised are also found empirically, a substantial part of the direct macro-to-micro effect remains after controlling for the presumed most important intervening factors. Our conclusion is that the relationship is still not well understood and needs more academic attention in future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the role of social capital in the status attainment process and examines the link between the hiring process and the potential pool of social capital embedded in a person's network. The analysis is based on a sample of people newly employed by the municipal services in Malmö, the third largest city in Sweden. Jobs in this sector of labour market are mainly low-paid, and are dominated by women and immigrants. The position generator method is used to measure social capital, understood as assets captured by individuals in social networks. The findings demonstrate that access to social capital is positively related to work experience, a higher educational level, having a partner, and active membership of voluntary associations. It is also apparent that being an immigrant is associated with a substantial social capital deficit. Regarding the return on capital, the results show that both human capital and social capital were rewarded with higher wages and more adequate jobs. Furthermore, we found that social capital is associated with better labour market outcomes, whether or not respondents reported that they obtained their current jobs using informal job-search methods. Results also show similar returns on access to social capital for natives and immigrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A recurring assumption is that undeclared work is market-like and motivated by monetary gain and thus that participants make a rational economic decision to engage in such an enterprise. In consequence, the predominant public policy response has been to seek to deter this work by ensuring that the expected cost of being caught and punished is greater than the economic benefit of participating. Here, however, and drawing upon evidence from 861 face-to-face interviews conducted in England, an alternative reading of undeclared work is presented more appreciative of the heterogeneous work relations and motives involved and its variable meanings. This identifies how although some undeclared work is market-like and conducted for monetary gain, there is also undeclared work conducted under social relations and for motives more akin to unpaid mutual aid. The paper then explores the various policy options that could be adopted and their implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]