Journal Article•
Women Creating Social Capital and Social Change
About: This article is published in Trotter Review.The article was published on 2000-01-01 and is currently open access. It has received 39 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Social change & Social mobility.
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01 Jan 1982
Abstract: Introduction 1. Woman's Place in Man's Life Cycle 2. Images of Relationship 3. Concepts of Self and Morality 4. Crisis and Transition 5. Women's Rights and Women's Judgment 6. Visions of Maturity References Index of Study Participants General Index
7,539 citations
TL;DR: The concept of social capital plays a key role in these new policies, as it presumably connects local participation, based on horizontal networks and reciprocity, with such positive results as economic growth and democratic intensity, even in distressed, excluded areas as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: Only a couple of decades ago urban movements were demanding, usually without much success, increased participation by the grassroots and a democratization of urban politics. Even though they staged what were perceived as ‘urban revolts’ (Castells, 1983: 65) and ‘backyard revolutions’ (Boyte, 1980), the structures of local decisionmaking did not open up very far; established interests in urban renewal hardly budged. Meanwhile, however, the movements’ demands appear to have become reality: the way politicians, urban scholars and activists in urban development now all highlight the importance of grassroots empowerment and citizen participation for dealing with urban problems makes it look as if success has finally been achieved. The topic of urban ‘exclusion’ is finally on the official agenda; policy-makers of all stripes apply not only the rhetoric of grassroots participation, but also a variety of programs addressing urban problems that seek to incorporate and harness community-based interests and local activism. What might appear as the fulfilment of earlier grassroots empowerment claims is actually part of a new mode of governance that has emerged in and for neglected and disadvantaged areas and communities. 1 Their ‘exclusion’ is now described as having a new, more multidimensional character than that which inequality or segregation formerly described, and the need for new policies to address this problematic side of neoliberalism seems uncontested. The concept of ‘social capital’ plays a key role in these new policies, as it presumably connects local participation, based on horizontal networks and reciprocity, with such positive results as economic growth and democratic intensity, even — or especially — in distressed, excluded areas. Through examining the way ‘social capital’ has been deployed by researchers and practitioners in the field of urban movements and community development, this article reveals the powerful and in many ways effective role the concept is playing in framing the contemporary reconfigurations in local state-society relations, impacting especially on the trajectory of third or voluntary sector development. It does so by exemplifying a more general trend of dissolving social and political perspectives into economic ones, by painting a variety of different kinds of civic engagement into a single — positively charged — corner, and thereby creating a new framework for dealing with urban inequality and poverty that appears to involve mobilization from below but does so in an extremely circumscribed and biased way.
301 citations
TL;DR: Katherine Pennington's painting You're My Tenth Customer depicts a woman entrepreneur at work as discussed by the authors, which is the focus of many of the small loan programs that support entrepreneurship among women.
Abstract: Katherine Pennington's painting You're My Tenth Customer depicts a woman entrepreneur at work. Facilitating entrepreneurship among women through small loan programs is the focus of many of the pove...
60 citations
Cites background from "Women Creating Social Capital and S..."
...…authors concluded that “To the extent that women contribute differently to the development of social capital by increasing community participation and trust, and by creating community networks and civic action, they represent a model for community developing efforts” (Gittell et al., 1999, p. 8)....
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...Such an idea might well be tried in the U.S., where almost half of the 17 million small businesses are home based, according to the U.S. Census Bureau (Hutchinson, 1999)....
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...Finding income activities for women is difficult because of their time constraints due to household responsibilities, both in the U.S. and abroad; the “caring” economy is largely the domain of women, though its costs are not factored into family or national income accounts (Gittell et al., 1999)....
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...It is not surprising that in a study of community-based organizations in nine sites in the U.S., Gittell et al. (1999) found that community organizations controlled by women generally espouse a broader social agenda than those run by men....
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...and abroad; the “caring” economy is largely the domain of women, though its costs are not factored into family or national income accounts (Gittell et al., 1999)....
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Book•
09 Feb 2004TL;DR: Radford-Hill as mentioned in this paper discusses resistance in the expanded private sphere and the appropriation of homeplace for the spatial resources to sustain everyday life in the US public housing system, focusing on women's empowerment.
Abstract: Foreword Sheila Radford-Hill Preface and acknowledgments Part I. Introduction: 1. Struggle for homeplace Part II. Wentworth Gardens' Historic Context: 2. US public housing policies: Wentworth Gardens' historic backdrop 3. Memory of a better past, reality of the present: the impetus for resident activism Part III. Everyday Resistance in the Expanded Private Sphere: 4. The community household: the foundation of everyday resistance 5. The local advisory council (LAC): a site of women-centered organizing 6. Women-centered leadership: a case study 7. The appropriation of homeplace: organizing for the spatial resources to sustain everyday life Part IV. Transgressive Resistance in the Public Sphere: 8. The White Sox Battle: protest and betrayal 9. Linking legal action and economic development: tensions and strains 10. Becoming resident managers: a bureaucratic quagmire Part V. Conclusions: 11. Resistance in context Epilogue Appendices References Index.
45 citations
Cites background from "Women Creating Social Capital and S..."
...and have challenged urban renewal and downtown growth priorities to save and renew their deteriorating neighborhoods (cf. Gittell et al., 1999; Naples, 1998a)....
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors present evidence of African American women's subordination in three aspects of race, gendered, and classed work contexts: organizational divisions (e.g., divisions of labor, allowed behaviors, and work spaces), symbolic constructions, and workplace interactions.
Abstract: This chapter uses feminist and critical organizational communication perspectives to examine control, resistance, and empowerment as revealed in the literature on African American women’s work experiences. Acker’s (1991) model of gendered organizations is extended to include race and class, and to frame an understanding of African American women’s subordination (control) and resistance (empowerment) in work situations. This chapter presents evidence of African American women’s subordination in three aspects of raced, gendered, and classed work contexts: (a) organizational divisions (e.g., divisions of labor, allowed behaviors, and work spaces), (b) symbolic constructions, and (c) workplace interactions. African American women’s empowerment in these work contexts are revealed in five themes that are informed by a Black feminist perspective and that are expressed somewhat differently by working-class or working-poor women as compared to middle-and upper-class women in the professions. Implications for theor...
36 citations
References
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TL;DR: Putnam et al. as discussed by the authors analyzed the efficacy of these governments in such fields as agriculture, housing, and health services, revealing patterns of associationism, trust, and cooperation that facilitate good governance and economic prosperity.
Abstract: Why do some democratic governments succeed and others fail? In a book that has received attention from policymakers and civic activists in America and around the world, Robert Putnam and his collaborators offer empirical evidence for the importance of "civic community" in developing successful institutions Their focus is on a unique experiment begun in 1970 when Italy created new governments for each of its regions After spending two decades analyzing the efficacy of these governments in such fields as agriculture, housing, and health services, they reveal patterns of associationism, trust, and cooperation that facilitate good governance and economic prosperity
13,915 citations
TL;DR: In this article, structural holes are defined as network gaps between players which create entrepreneurial opportunities for information access, timing, referrals, and for control, and the structural holes also generate control benefits giving certain players an advantage in negotiating their relationships.
Abstract: The study analyzes the social structure of competition. It addresses the consequences of voids in relational and resource networks. Competitive behavior can be understood in terms of player access to \"holes\" in the social structure of the competitive arena. Those \"structural holes\" are network gaps between players which create entrepreneurial opportunities for information access, timing, referrals, and for control. A player brings capital to the competitive arena and walks away with profit determined by the rate of return where the capital was invested. The rate of return is keyed to the social structure of the competitive arena. Each player brings three kinds of capital to the competitive arena: financial capital, such as money and investments; human capital, such as his or her natural qualities and skills; and social capital, i.e. networks of other players. Social capital is the final determinant of competitive success. Something about the structure of a player's network (his or her relations with other players, such as colleagues, friends, and clients), and the location of the player's network in the structure of the arena defines the player's chances of getting higher rates of return. These chances are enhanced by two kinds of network benefits for those who can exploit structural holes: information and control. Opportunities for success are many, but it is information that plays a central role in seizing them; structural holes determine who knows about opportunities, what they know, and who gets to participate. Structural holes also generate control benefits, giving certain players an advantage in negotiating their relationships. Following sociological theory, a player who derives benefit from structural holes by brokering relationships between other conflicted players is called tertius gaudens. The essential tension in tertius strategies is not hostility of participants, but rather uncertainty; no one has absolute authority in the relationship under negotiation. The findings of empirical research indicate that structural holes are advantageous to suppliers and customers, but not to producers in their negotiated transactions, because suppliers and customers benefit from competition among producers. The information and control benefits of structural holes are advantageous to managers, and the managers who develop those benefits are an asset to the firm employing them. Managers with networks rich in structural holes often reach promotion faster. Hole effects are most evident for managers operating on a social frontier, i.e. in places where two social worlds meet. Social frontiers involve continual negotiations of the expectations of the manager and those of the people across the frontier, and thus more entrepreneurial skill is required. The most serious frontier is the political boundary between top leadership and the rest of the firm. To move up the corporate ladder, a manager has to transform his or her frame of reference from that of an employee protected by the firm, to that of a leader responsible for the firm. The findings also indicate that women and entry-rank men tend to be promoted earlier because they build hierarchical networks around a strategic partner who helps them break into higher ranks. Although the reported differences between the manager networks have clear implications for promotions, there are no differences among managers in their tendencies to have one network rather than another, which is especially striking with respect to the sex and rank differences that are observed to be important in distinguishing network effects. Structural holes provide a theoretical connection between micro and macro levels of sociological analysis. The structural hole argument extends other theories, such as personality theory, interface theory of markets and population ecology, and resource dependence and transaction cost theory
12,103 citations
Book•
01 Jan 1992
TL;DR: In this paper, the Tertius Gaudens Entrepreneurs Secondary Holes Structural Autonomy (SSA) model is used to control the number of holes in a network.
Abstract: Acknowledgments Introduction 1. THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF COMPETITION Opportunity and Capital Information Structural Holes Control and the Tertius Gaudens Entrepreneurs Secondary Holes Structural Autonomy Summary 2. FORMALIZING THE ARGUMENT Network Data Redundancy Constraint Hole Signature Structural Autonomy Summary 3. TURNING A PROFIT Product Networks and Market Profit The Study Population Hole Effects Market Hole Signatures Summary Appendix: Weighing Alternatives 4. GETTING AHEAD Contact Networks and Manager Achievement The Study Population Hole Effects Hierarchy Institutional Holes Selecting a Network Summary Appendix A: Weighing Alternatives Appendix B: Causal Order 5. PLAYER-STRUCTURE DUALITY Structural Unit of Analysis Players and Structures Escape from Attributes No Escape Summary 6. COMMIT AND SURVIVE Holes and Heterogeneity Interface and the Commit Hypothesis Population Ecology and the Survival Hypothesis Summary 7. STRATEGIC EMBEDDING AND INSTITUTIONAL RESIDUE The Other Tertius Strategy Hypothesis Formal Organization as Social Residue Personality as Emotional Residue Summary Notes References Index
10,616 citations