Rural Social Capital versus European and Global Challenges (About "good" and "bad" Social Capital)

This text has two aims - to relate the results of research carried out in IRWiR PAN (Institute for Rural and Agricultural Development Polish Academy of Sciences) on rural social capital and achieve a useful social interpretation of those results referring to the theory of social capital. Social capital is nowadays becoming a very important element in academic and political discourse. It is seen as having the potential for greater efficiency in levelling social differences, improving the opportunities of rural inhabitants. No matter how popular and positive, social capital can be understood in various ways due to its various theoretical sources, it is also possible to point out its negative aspects. This text is an attempt at showing the nuances of how social capital works. The first part presents the basic understanding of the category discussed here. The second part is a presentation of the results of empirical research where interpretation was carried out in the light of earlier outlined concepts.