ABSTRACT
Social capital is defined here as resources accessible through membership of social networks or other social structures. This implies not only that people need to be connected to one another, but also that the people they are connected to need to be willing to provide resources to them. This chapter explores the core mechanisms through which people become able to access resources, by drawing on case study research in three voluntary sports clubs in the UK. These core mechanisms, as set out by Portes (1998), are: reciprocity exchanges; enforceable trust; bounded solidarity; and value introjection. The chapter explores each in turn, by examining the accounts of members and observations at the three clubs, and then looks at the role of ‘leaders’ in how these mechanisms operate. (Further details of the case study research are available in Chapter 4 and the Appendix of Social capital and sport organisations.)
