Exploring the Missing Links

This book is the publication of a highly praised doctoral thesis exploring the role of social capital theory in Australian regional development policy and practice. The author provides a trenchant critique of the concept 'social capital' and the link between social capital and regional economic development which has been propagated in Australia and around the world. The author draws attention to the 'missing links' in social capital theory, exploring how the concept has mutated from its origins as a tool in a tightly theorised framework for the explanation of social structure and inequality, into a community development tool which many believe can be used to remedy such inequality. With reference to a case study of the local government area of the City of Playford in South Australia, the author argues that not only are current understandings of social capital unable to adequately address issues of class and structural inequality in Australian regional development, they may also be contributing to their exacerbation.