ABSTRACT
The policy concern in the latter part of the 1990s with poverty, social exclusion and social change has frequently focused on social capital as an explanatory concept and as a policy strategy. 1 The concept of social capital has been used in a variety of policy contexts: health and health promotion, 2 education, 3 economic policy and economic development, 4 politics and democracy 5 and welfare reform. 6 This significantly abridged list highlights two key issues that make social capital worth investigating. The first concerns the concept itself, its plasticity and transdisciplinary applicability. Secondly, there is the convergence of traditionally self-contained policy discourses onto social capital building as a policy strategy to deliver successful outcomes in a variety of policy domains. The common thread is the rediscovery of civil society and its social foundation, trust.
