On the capitalization and cultivation of social capital: Towards a neo-capital general science?

Bourdieu's [Bourdieu, P., 1986. The Forms of Capital. In: Richardson, J.G. (Ed.), Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education. Greenwood Press, New York, pp. 241–258] seminal definition of social capital as “the aggregate of the actual or potential resources” is reflected in older definitions, as well as in many current within sociology, e.g. [Portes, A., 2000. The two meanings of social capital. Sociological Forum 15 (1), 1–12] and organization [Adler, P., Kwon, S.-W., 2002. Social capital: prospects for a new concept. Academy of Management Journal 27 (1), 17–40]. The definition is interesting, because it directs a dual focus on social capital as both immediately and potentially productive resources, i.e., assets that can be immediately capitalized by individuals as well as ‘cultivated’ for future use. We argue that to further operationalize this concept we must distinguish between actual/potential social capital, within a neo-capital framework that unifies the existing ‘plethora’ of capitals.