What is social capital? A study of interaction in a rural community

What is social capital? In answering this question, the payer reports on ne w research which differentiates between social interaction processes and so cial capital as the product of those processes. Following a review of liter ature, structured as a social theory against which social capital might be understood, the payer then describes a study of a rural community, and repo rts on two analyses of data which contribute to answering the question,'Wha t is the nature of the interactive productivity between the local networks in a community?' The paper concludes that social capital, for which a new d efinition is forwarded, can only 'exist' if it is somehow able to be produc ed. This is the chief assumption of the paper. Social capital is defined as an accumulation of the knowledge and identity resources drawn on by commun ities-of-common-purpose. If social capital originates in micro interactions which are in turn embedded in a meso and macro social order, then these pr ocesses and connections should be observable. This paper makes an initial c ontribution to the establishment of such micro, mesa and macro links.