ABSTRACT
Researchers considering social capital have highlighted an apparent conundrum. Why should voluntary sports clubs and other voluntary associations be considered so significant, when people participate in them for only a limited amount of time, especially compared to the time they spend with family, with friends, in work, or elsewhere? This chapter explores this apparent conundrum. Drawing on case study research in three voluntary sports clubs in the UK, it identifies key elements of socio-organisational context and explores how they shaped the mechanisms and outcomes of social capital. First, I examine three relatively tangible elements, namely the size of the club, the structure of the club and the importance and nature of the focal activity. Then, I examine four relatively intangible elements, namely ‘voluntariness’, ‘co-operativeness’, the relative absence of hierarchy and perceived diversity. (This is the second of two chapters on how context shapes social capital in voluntary sports clubs. The first part is Chapter 8. Further details of the case study research are also available in Chapter 4 and the Appendix of Social capital and sport organisations.)
