It has been proposed that social capital, as an investment in social relations with an expected return in the marketplace, should be defined as resources embedded in a social structure that are accessed and/or mobilized in purposive actions. In this definition, three critical components present themselves for analysis: (1) the resources, (2) being embedded in a social structure, and (3) action. I contend that resources are at the core of all capital theories, especially social capital. A theory of social capital should accomplish three tasks: First, it should explain how resources take on values and how the valued resources are distributed in society – the structural embeddedness of resources. Second, it should show how individual actors, through interactions and social networks, become differentially accessible to such structurally embedded resources – the opportunity structure. Third, it should explain how access to such social resources can be mobilized for gains – the process of activation. This chapter will focus on the first two of these tasks: embeddedness of valued resources in society and the opportunity structure relative to such resources. Chapter 4 will conclude the explication of the theory by discussing the action component.

Resources and Their Social Allocation

A fundamental concept of the theory presented here is resources, defined as material or symbolic goods (Lin 1982). Beyond the basic physical resources needed to sustain and enhance human life, individuals and groups ascribe meanings and significance to other resources as well.