Rapporteur seminar report

According to Nan Lin, Duke University, North Carolina, USA, there are four reasons forinvesting in social capital:‣ It facilitates the flow of information and can provide the individual with access to usefulinformation about opportunities and choices otherwise not available;‣ It provides social ties which can be influential in affecting decisions that can impact onthe individual;‣ It provides the individual with social credentials, giving the possibility of access toresources through relationships and social networks;‣ Social relations reinforce identity - as a member of the social group the individualshares similar interests and resources. 9Where does LLL fit into these two scenarios? Is it purely an investment in human capital,with the objective of increasing the skills and qualifications of the labour force or is it aninvestment in social capital which provides for the wider social development of individuals,networks and communities?The national projects fit into both the human and social capital theories. In the Danish case,for example, the focus of the LLL study was on the labour market integration and educationof immigrants, or the Hungarian project which looked at policies for unemployed personsin rural areas. On the other hand, it could be argued that the ‘social capital’ scenario isfound in the two Polish studies on a) the small schools initiative; and b) for the inclusion ofrural youth. The Swedish study was of particular interest, as it addressed both the humancapital objectives of providing the skills for employment to immigrants but also had a focuson social integration through language training and an understanding of Swedish culture, soas to avoid the development of immigrant ‘ghettoisation’.4. Resources for LLLTo implement any policy area, there are four main resources required, financial input,qualified and skills personnel, the facilities to provide the actions or programmes arisingout of the policy and sufficient time to deliver the policy. These four resource issues arerelevant to LLL in both the social inclusion of immigrants and those living in marginalisedrural communities.9 Building a Network Theory of Social Capital by Nan Lin, Dept of Sociology, Duke University, Connections 22 (1)(1999)5