The Social Capital Foundation

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The Social Capital Foundation (TSCF) is an independent non-profit, non-governmental organization, free of any established political or economic interest, that pursues the promotion of social capital and social cohesion. Created in 2002, it is based in Brussels.

1 TSCF's purpose
2 The International Scope Review
3 TSCF International Conferences
4 The tripartite model of societal change
5 Consolidating society through social capital
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] TSCF's purpose

TSCF brings together people and organizations who would like to contribute to a better future by reinforcing the social link between people, as opposed to the more narrow economic focus that has held sway for the past three decades or more.

Reinforcing the social link equates with promoting social capital, a concept that is increasingly discussed nowadays both in the academic arena and among policymakers.

"Social Capital" is a resource that can be used for revitalizing social cohesiveness, and can be defined as a set of mental dispositions and attitudes favoring cooperative behaviors within society. In that sense, social capital can be regarded as an equivalent to the community spirit.

TSCF promotes social capital through socio-economic research, publications, and events. The Foundation sets up international conferences on a regular basis.

[edit] The International Scope Review

TSCF edits The International Scope Review (TISR), an international academic journal that publishes multidisciplinary research on the contemporary transformations taking place in the industrial countries.

By linking three fields: economic relationships, interethnic relationships and interpersonal relationships, TISR attempts to offer a global understanding of the changes in society and the economy. The journal is interdisciplinary and cross-cultural, and welcomes contributions that suggest understandings and strategies alternative to those currently carried forward.

Created 1999, the journal has delivered 12 issues so far, dedicated to such subjects as the implications of mass immigration to the Western countries, the real objectives of European monetary integration, the weakening of the social bond in the developed countries, the links between suicide and individualism, the emergence of the new religions, and the contemporary crisis of the family link, among others.

The most recent issue bears on the definition, measurement and applications of social capital.

[edit] TSCF International Conferences

TSCF International Conferences include:

the 2004 Brussels conference on the Future of Family (Brussels, May 11-13, 2004, "The Future of Family: Recomposition or Decomposition?"),

the 2005 Malta conference on Social Capital (Buggiba, September 20-22, 2005, "Social Capital, Definition, Measurement, Applications"),

the 2007 Hawaii conference on Interethnic Relationships (Waikiki, November 15-19, 2007, "Multiethnicity: A Boon or a Bane?").

[edit] The tripartite model of societal change

TISR is based on the "tripartite model of societal change" elaborated by Dr Patrick Hunout from the years 1995-1996 on.

His work explores the formation of what he called a New Leviathan around the hypothesis that the upper class of society seeks to build a new order based on less equality and less democracy.

His model suggests that, contrary to a common view, the strategies carried forward by the New Leviathan link intimately the economic, ethnic, and interpersonal fields. These strategies consist in developing economic flexibility and precariousness, promoting migrations and a multiethnic society, and pushing forward individualist,hedonist and consumerist values. In a last resort, they design a weak society, enslaved to market values and governmental controls rendered necessary by the increasing incapacity of an atomized social body to manage itself.

This approach suggests that strategies carried forward by the ruling class explain most contemporary difficulties; if they would be inverted, a huge improvement would follow.

[edit] Consolidating society through social capital

The response of The Social Capital Foundation to the erosion of the social link consists in expanding social capital.

TSCF's orientation emphasizes:

The social dimension of the market economy: tempering the effects of the free market on precariousness and social fragility, not through bureaucratic controls, but through the development of socially responsible corporate policies, of the non-profit economy sector and of a partnership system between employers and employees in the spirit of what has been called "Rhineland capitalism",

The pivotal role of the middle class in modern society: promoting a society with a large, educated and wealthy middle-class able to play a responsive role in the settlement of issues, in order to favor democratic life, which may have implications for revenues, wage and tax policies, as well as for education and learning practices.

The necessity for improvement of social cooperation and participation: on the basis of the above, a stronger society would involve a massive reduction in the role of the governments, compensated by a raise in the role of the organized civil society (NGOs and independent organizations). Civic participation in the judicial and governmental institutions would be developed and the legal and tax systems would be democratized.

The preservation of cultural identity for community integration: migration policies would be restricted and third world socio-economic development policies would take over from them, while the attribution of nationality would be submitted to community approval.

Finally, raising the level of social capital would have implications for a wide range of behaviors on a daily basis, such as showing a lesser individualism, developing compromise-readiness, being critical to consumption values, as well as reintroducing congeniality and civility in the family, neighborhood and interpersonal relationships so as to learn again to live together.