Social capital is fundamentally concerned with resources in social relations. This Handbook brings together leading scholars from around the world to address important questions on the determinants, manifestations and consequences of social capital. Various mechanisms of formal and informal social involvement, its relationship with other forms of social exclusion and its role in civic, instrumental and expressive domains of our socio-economic and community lives are explored. This unique Handbook: combines cutting-edge theory with appropriate data and methods explores the mechanisms of formal and informal social involvement including the role of parental class and cultural influence, and the consequences for our personal and community lives links social capital with other domains of social inequality such as cultural practice and philanthropic behaviour in an in-depth examination of the social stratification processes conducts a thorough analysis of formal and informal social involvement, and bonding and bridging social ties on trust, tolerance, community cohesion, educational attainment, labour market position, quality of life and ethnic entrepreneurism analyzes social capital as both an outcome and as a mediating variable at the micro, meso and macro levels. Accessible yet rigorous, this Handbook presents a challenge to both social capital researchers interested in explaining social inequality and to policy-makers with responsibility for designing effective measures for combating social exclusion. It will also be essential reading for students in sociology, political science, developmental economics and management studies. Contributors: N. Allum, R. Andersen, L. Bécares, Y. Bian, F. Buscha, C. Cheng, R.R. Côté, D. Cutts, N. Demireva, F. Devine, J.K. Dhillon, L. Donato, B.H. Erickson, J. Fiel, J. Field, E. Fieldhouse, A. Gamoran, A. García-Macías, D. Griffiths, A. Heath, X. Huang, P.S. Lambert, J. Laurence, Y. Li, M. Lubbers, J.L. Molina, J. Nazroo, J. Pampalona, R. Patulny, J. Rodríguez Menés, M. Savage, M. Shoji, P. Sturgis, E.M. Uslaner, H. Valenzuela-García, P.-P. Verhaeghe, W. Wang, A. Warde, M. Western, L. Zhang, L. Zhang, W. Zhang

Table of Contents:
Contents: 1. Social Capital in Sociological Research: Conceptual Rigour and Empirical Application Yaojun Li 2. Social Stratification, Social Capital and Cultural Practice in the UK Yaojun Li, Mike Savage and Alan Warde 3. The Flow of Soul: A Sociological Study of Generosity in England and Wales (2001 – 2011) Yaojun Li 4. The Roots of Trust Eric M. Uslaner 5. Social Connectedness and Generalized Trust: A Longitudinal Perspective Patrick Sturgis, Roger Patulny, Nick Allum and Franz Buscha 6. Social Capital and Ethnic Tolerance: The Opposing Effects of Diversity and Competition Rochelle R. Côté, Robert Andersen and Bonnie H. Erickson 7. Diversity and Social Capital in the US and UK: The Role of Bridging Friendships David Cutts and Edward Fieldhouse 8. Informal, Associational Bonding and Associational Bridging: Which Ties Matter Most for Minority Involvement and Integration? Neli Demireva and Anthony Heath 9. The Efficacy of Neighbourhood Attitudes as Measures of Social Capital: Returning to Norms and Values and the Centrality of Networks James Laurence 10. The Position Generator Approach to Social Capital Research: Measurements and Results Pieter-Paul Verhaeghe and Yaojun Li 11. Formal and Informal Social Connections in the UK Yaojun Li, Anthony Heath and Fiona Devine 12. Social Capital and the Social Relations of Occupational Structure Dave Griffiths and Paul S. Lambert 13. Social Capital and Life Satisfaction in Australia Xianbi Huang and Mark Western 14. Social Capital, Ethnic Density and Mental Health Among Ethnic Minority People in England: A Mixed-methods Study Laia Bécares and James Nazroo 15. An Intervention Approach to Building Social Capital: Effects on Grade Retention Jeremy Fiel, Megan Shoji, and Adam Gamoran 16. Social Ties, Agency, and Change: Education and Social Capital in Adult Life John Field 17. Social Capital in Inter-organisational Partnership Research Jaswinder K Dhillon 18. Social Capital, Social Cohesion and Cognitive Attainment Jorge Rodríguez Menés and Luisa Donato 19. Institution-Spanning Social Capital and its Income Returns in China Yanjie Bian, Lei Zhang, Wenbin Wang and Cheng Cheng 20. Social Capital and Marketization in the Chinese Labour Market Wenhong Zhang and Li Zhang 21. Social Capital in Ethnic Enclaves: Indians in Lloret de Mar, and Pakistanis in Barcelona José Luis Molina, Hugo Valenzuela-García, Alejandro García-Macías, Miranda Lubbers and Judith Pampalona Index