ABSTRACT
Social capital involves the resources obtained through social relationships and nonmonetary power and influence, with the central idea being that membership and participation in groups may have positive consequences for the individual and/or the community. This chapter focuses on contemporary notions of social capital, tracing its origins in sociology to applications and debates in the health sciences, with particular attention to contributions in health geography. It provides a review of the pathways to health, measurement challenges, issues of scale and the positive and negative consequences of social capital in specific research. The line of work in sociology outlines three important components related to social capital. They are the possessors of social capital, or those making claims; the sources of social capital, or those agreeing to those demands; and the resources themselves, or the objects, services or other goods that are being demanded. The chapter presents emerging areas of social capital research among health geographers.
