GEOGRAPHICAL NARRATIVES OF EXERCISED SOCIAL CAPITAL

Abstract Social capital, as conceptualised to date, has looked at the composition of social networks and the socio-economic outcomes they produce, with very little reference to context, space, place, agency, or power. This thesis contributes to our understanding of social capital by looking systemically at the socio-spatial context in which networks emerge, and how social capital is exercised through mediating relationships with the objective of understanding how these processes are enabled or constrained in practice. Jane Jacobs approach to observing real-world, city processes from the ground up is applied to a case-study of creative practitioners working in the Stoke-on-Trent area from 2007-2011. Research methods were designed to elicit narratives from participants using a mapping exercise as a way to enact the everyday practices of the participants. These enactments were filmed as participants performed/narrated the story of their network. The narratives collected show that when social capital is conceptualised as an effect of dynamic social networks, rather than a static fund of potential resources, the processes by which individuals and groups win, lose or maintain advantage are uncovered. Exercised social capital has its own spatialities and modalities which place us nearer to, or further away from our goals. This thesis contributes both a novel framework and methods for analysing the exercise of social capital in a real world context which furthers our understanding of the co-constitution of space and society.