Full Description
Durable social connections are priceless resources for support, companionship, and opportunity. They make life worth living. However, not everyone has equal access to these seemingly free social resources. Like many other valuable things in life, 'social capital' is both a source and a consequence of inequality throughout the population - something that reinforces the status quo and existing social hierarchies. In Friends and Fortunes, the authors painstakingly document that the distribution of social connections in American society is as stark as income inequality. Through detailed analyses and colorful real-life illustrations, they reveal how rich elites hoard both the most prized and the most deceptively frivolous social ties. Drawing on over one hundred measures of social capital from dozens of datasets and over one million people, they explain how social networks create a remarkable and omnipresent web of connections that subtly feed hidden systems of power, prestige, wealth and, ultimately, life chances.
Contents
Part I. Introduction: 1. Our Study of Social Resources and Social Capital; Part II. Theoretical Foundations: 2. Theoretical Foundations; Part III. Data and Analytic Strategy: 3. Data, Measurement, and Analytic Strategy: Part IV. Findings: 4. Inequality in Social Networks and Social Capital; 5. Social Networks, Prosperity, and Power; Part V. Conclusions: 6. Conclusions and Future Directions.
