The Theme

Social capital and trust are central concepts in many current scholarly debates about social cohesion, civic engagement, and democratic governance and they are also becoming more and more popular among policy makers. The concepts have been applied to a wide range of empirical fields such as for instance health and well-being, crime, urban studies, and education and they are increasingly becoming central to different disciplines such as economics, political science, and sociology. With the growing interest, several disputes about the definition, measurement, level of analysis, functions, mechanisms, causes and consequences etc. have emerged. And while many studies have stressed the positive attributes and positive effects of social capital as a facilitator of co-operation for mutual benefit, there is now a growing interest in questions of inequality in possession of social capital, the ‘club’ good character of social capital, boundaries of trust, and the exclusionary effects of social capital.

Format of the seminar

The seminar will be organised in an effort to stimulate debate and discussion. This means that most of the time will be devoted to comments, discussions and reflections upon participants’ papers. This means that: papers are circulated and read in advance, each paper is briefly introduced by the author(s), a discussant will be assigned for each paper, most time will be open for general discussion

 Participants are expected to serve as discussant for another paper, and to open the floor with constructive and fair comments.

Besides papers from the participants, Mike Savage, University of Manchester, UK, will give a key note presentation on the second day. Mike Savage is Professor of Sociology and Co-director of the ESRC Centre for Research on Socio-Cultural Change (CRESC). He has published extensively on social capital, social inequality, social protest and social mobility. His most recent publications include Culture and Class after Distinction (Routledge 2008, with Tony Bennett, Elizabeth Silva, Alan Warde, Modesto Gayo-Cal and David Wright); Globalisation and Belonging (Sage 2005, with Gaynor Bagnall and Brian Longhurst); and Networked Urbanism. Social Capital in the City (Ashgate 2008, co-edited with Talja Blokland).

Financial support

The seminar is hosted by the Cinefogo Network of Excellence. Conference fee and accommodation expenses are covered by the network. Participants are expected to cover travel expenses.

Time and venue

The research seminar will take place at Hotel Scheelsminde, Aalborg, Denmark. The seminar will start Monday 8 June 2009 and continue through to Tuesday 9 June 2009.

CINEFOGO responsible

Lars Skov Henriksen, Department of Sociology, Social Work and Organization, Aalborg University, Denmark. Email: larsskov@socsci.aau.dk. Phone 00 45 9940 8142