Ross Gittell

Bio: Ross Gittell is an academic researcher from University of New Hampshire. The author has contributed to research in topics: Metropolitan area & Poverty. The author has an hindex of 10, co-authored 35 publications receiving 1479 citations. Previous affiliations of Ross Gittell include Community College of Philadelphia.

Community Organizing: Building Social Capital as a Development Strategy

Abstract: Introduction Social Capital and Networks in Community Development Framing the LISC Demonstration A Social Capital Perspective on Community Development Practice Getting off to a Good Start Positioning the Program in the Field Organizing CDCs and Developing Indigenous Leadership Building Relationships with the Private Sector Transition and its Consequences Lessons Building Social Capital

Charitable Giving: Factors Influencing Giving in U.S. States:

Abstract: Charitable giving by households in the United States is significant. More than two thirds of households self-report giving. Private giving represents more than 2% of total gross domestic product (GDP) and is a significant factor in funding the nonprofit sector. This research note documents giving across U.S. states. It adds detailed data and analysis supporting and supplementing research that identifies personal income, capital gains, religious group affiliation, age, volunteerism, and educational attainment as the main factors affecting household giving.

Community organizing : building social capital as a development strategy

Abstract: Introduction Social Capital and Networks in Community Development Framing the LISC Demonstration A Social Capital Perspective on Community Development Practice Getting off to a Good Start Positioning the Program in the Field Organizing CDCs and Developing Indigenous Leadership Building Relationships with the Private Sector Transition and its Consequences Lessons Building Social Capital

Community Development Corporations: Critical Factors That Influence Success

Abstract: With federal devolution and the ascendancy of community-based development strategies to center stage, the role of community development corporations (CDCs) has gained significance. This analysis fo...

Porter's Model for Geographic Competitive Advantage: The Case of New Hampshire:

Abstract: This essay illustrates how considerations of a region's dynamic industrial structure may assist public policymakers, particularly with regard to the formulation of state technology policies. The es...

Social Capital: Prospects for a New Concept

Abstract: A growing number of sociologists, political scientists, economists, and organizational theorists have invoked the concept of social capital in the search for answers to a broadening range of questions being confronted in their own fields. Seeking to clarify the concept and help assess its utility for organizational theory, we synthesize the theoretical research undertaken in these various disciplines and develop a common conceptual framework that identifies the sources, benefits, risks, and contingencies of social capital.

Adaptation, adaptive capacity and vulnerability

Abstract: This paper reviews the concept of adaptation of human communities to global changes, especially climate change, in the context of adaptive capacity and vulnerability. It focuses on scholarship that contributes to practical implementation of adaptations at the community scale. In numerous social science fields, adaptations are considered as responses to risks associated with the interaction of environmental hazards and human vulnerability or adaptive capacity. In the climate change field, adaptation analyses have been undertaken for several distinct purposes. Impact assessments assume adaptations to estimate damages to longer term climate scenarios with and without adjustments. Evaluations of specified adaptation options aim to identify preferred measures. Vulnerability indices seek to provide relative vulnerability scores for countries, regions or communities. The main purpose of participatory vulnerability assessments is to identify adaptation strategies that are feasible and practical in communities. The distinctive features of adaptation analyses with this purpose are outlined, and common elements of this approach are described. Practical adaptation initiatives tend to focus on risks that are already problematic, climate is considered together with other environmental and social stresses, and adaptations are mostly integrated or mainstreamed into other resource management, disaster preparedness and sustainable development programs. r 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Social capital: implications for development theory, research, and policy

Abstract: In the 1990s the concept of social capital defined here as the norms and networks that enable people to act collectively enjoyed a remarkable rise to prominence across all the social science disciplines. The authors trace the evolution of social capital research as it pertains to economic development and identify four distinct approaches the research has taken : communitarian, networks, institutional, and synergy. The evidence suggests that of the four, the synergy view, with its emphasis on incorporating different levels and dimensions of social capital and its recognition of the positive and negative outcomes that social capital can generate, has the greatest empirical support and lends itself best to comprehensive and coherent policy prescriptions. The authors argue that a significant virtue of the idea of and discourse on social capital is that it helps to bridge orthodox divides among scholars, practitioners, and policymakers.

Health by association? Social capital, social theory, and the political economy of public health

Abstract: Three perspectives on the efficacy of social capital have been explored in the public health literature. A "social support" perspective argues that informal networks are central to objective and subjective welfare; an "inequality" thesis posits that widening economic disparities have eroded citizens' sense of social justice and inclusion, which in turn has led to heightened anxiety and compromised rising life expectancies; a "political economy" approach sees the primary determinant of poor health outcomes as the socially and politically mediated exclusion from material resources. A more comprehensive but grounded theory of social capital is presented that develops a distinction between bonding, bridging, and linking social capital. It is argued that this framework helps to reconcile these three perspectives, incorporating a broader reading of history, politics, and the empirical evidence regarding the mechanisms connecting types of network structure and state-society relations to public health outcomes.