The dark social capital as an effective way in getting things done: explaining dark sides of social capital in Albania, No.20, pages 95-110

by Dr. Gerti SQAPI
UET Press (2021)

Abstract

For almost three decades, social capital has become an important concept (and a variable) that has attracted much attention in the social science literature to explain various social problems and phenomena. In the many debates that have taken place about the role of social capital, conceived at different levels, it should be noted that its value is seen mainly in positive terms, emphasizing the potential benefits that the possession of social capital in itself has for the individual and society as a whole. The negative consequences that “dark” social capital produces on the relationships between people and for the society have been largely ignored in the literature. The focus in this paper will be precisely on the negative societal consequences that the possession of social capital of a certain form, the “dark” one, has on the individuals that make up a particular society. In this study, the role of norms and social structure of society is emphasized as essential for the formation of social capital that individuals within it possess. Social capital understood in this way is seen as reflective of the social structure of society, as it is this structure that generates various forms of social capital. Albania will be the empirical case where the theoretical framework of this study will be applied (in Part III), highlighting the negative impacts that dark social capital has on Albanian society at the expense of breaking its established formal universalistic rules.

https://doi.org/10.58944/jcmc5222