Families and social capital in Serbia: Some issues in research and policy

U radu se ispituje heuristička i metodološka vrednost koncepta socijalnog kapitala u istraživanju porodica u društvima koja prolaze kroz post-socijalističku transformaciju. Nakon diskusije o konceptualnim problemima vezanim za socijalni kapital i proučavanje savremenih porodica sumiraju se nalazi najnovijih istraživanja o porodicama u Srbiji koji se odnose na socijalni kapital. Dokazuje se da postoje dve strane socijalnog kapitala u društvima u post-socijalističkoj transformaciji kakvo je Srbija kao i da su posledice primarnog ("vezujućeg") socijalnog kapitala dvostruke i da sve to ima složene efekte na različite nivoe društva. U zaključnom delu se ukazuje na neka metodološka i pitanja socijalne politike koja su se otvorila u analizi.Based on several recent studies on families and households in Serbia, the paper examines the heuristic and methodological validity of the concept of social capital as applied in studying families in post-socialist transformation. After discussing conceptual issues and problems related to social capital and study of contemporary families, the findings from the studies related to social capital are summarized. It is argued that in a post socialist society in transformation, such as Serbia, there are two sides to social capital, that consequences of strong "bonding" social capital are twofold, and that this has complex effects on different societal levels. In the concluding part, some methodological and policy issues that emerged from the evidence are pointed out