ABSTRACT
Recent interest in the concept of social capital has prompted new and creative explorations of why and how citizens become involved in their communities as civic or political activists, including potential links between the two kinds of activism. Some of this research (including some in this volume) suggests that the process of engagement can be different for women and men, in part because of their still quite different roles and experiences in both the public and private spheres, even despite important changes in gender role expectations since the 1950s. Women's family roles, access to public networks, and economic status might affect their individual experiences with social capital and with how they are motivated and recruited to become active in their communities, to build different kinds of bridging and bonding ties, and to create social trust.
