Bad Social Capital

Some social capital can be seen as doing more harm for society. Having a high degree of mutual reciprocity inside a community does not benefit all of society if it motivates destructive behavior. The Mafia, for instance is an excellent example of a community with an extremely high level of bonding social capital, such that internal loyalties are higher than obligation to the larger society, including its laws. Sometimes bonding social capital can be sparked by a xenophobic comparison to an Other, which can fuel internal cohesion until group-based violence erupts. An example here would be the way a Northern Irish community would function well inside their religious group, but attempt to kill their neighbors of another creed.

An abundance of social capital can also feel stifling. American popular media is filled with two competing images of small town life, both rich in bonds of mutual reciprocity. In one, this close-knit community is romanticized and held as an ideal of neighborly cooperation and good values: the gemeinshchaft. This view exists juxtaposed with the view of small town America is provincial, stifling and closed-minded, popularized from Sinclair Lewis through to today. At heart, however, this latter view objects not to the bonds that tie people, but the goals and relations of their surrounding community members. Not everyone will enjoy a community into which they have been thrust, and high levels of social capital certainly do not guarantee tolerance.

The Internet can help capture the best of both worlds here. One can take full advantage of bonds forged through, say, tradition or family that forge a strong physical community, and be a part of an online network to meet other needs. On the other hand, the web also provided an environmnent where hate can flourish.

Allan Friedman
January, 2002