Transitions, Networks and Communities: The Significance of Social Capital in the Lives of Children and Young People

The theoretical fathers of social capital (Putnam, Coleman and Bourdieu) are criticised for seeing children as passive recipients of parental social capital rather than active producers, and recent literature and debate has attempted to correct this earlier imbalance. We contribute to this work by using social capital as a lens through which to explore transitions, networks and communities in the lives of children and young people. Drawing on three studies from the Families and Social Capital ESRC Research Group programme, we highlight the diverse experiences of young people through a broad spectrum of participants aged 11–30 from different class, ethnic and faith backgrounds, living in a range of national and transnational contexts. We reject the deficit model of young people's social capital, demonstrating the many and varied ways that children and young people develop and use social capital to negotiate important transitions and construct their identities.