ABSTRACT
Examinations into social organizations have been a key issue throughout the history of the social sciences. However, although the concept of social capital may contain old ideas, it would be unfair to label it as oxymoronic or irrelevant. Both Bourdieu and Coleman interpreted the capital component of social capital in very strict, economic terms, while Putnam, on the other hand, took a broader, less specific interpretation of the term capital. Bourdieu provided a useful set of examples that clarify his concept of capital as power. A parallel development in social capital occurred through the works of Coleman. In a 1988 article and then later, and more comprehensively in his 1990 release of Foundations of Social Theory, he suggests that analysts who have thus far explored social cohesion fall into two broad categories: sociologists and economists. Although writing several years later, Robert Putnam can still be considered a contemporary to Coleman and Bourdieu.
