The Spirit of Social Capital
Drew J. Ladner
January 1, 1996
It would be theologically myopic were Regenerator not to affirm, even if only in short, the significance of Christian moral theology for global political economy. While the way ethics bears on my job and your job may seem to hit closer to home, moral matters on the macro level-while feeling more distant-are no less relevant. Amidst the hyperventilation about the dawn of the new liberal political economic order, what has largely been ignored during the euphoric 1990s is that the forces of political, economic, social, and technological upheaval entail a moral dimension. Of late those who long have beaten the "morality drum" in solitude have found cause for optimism. In the last year or so, a refreshing number of commentators diagnosing cultural and societal problems have almost universally attributed some blame to the decline of so-called social capital-"networks, norms, and social trust that facilitate coordination and cooperation for mutual benefit," in the words of Robert Putnam. For instance, Putnam, in his oft-cited article, "Bowling Alone" (Journal of Democracy, January 1995), deplores the erosion American civic engagement and the consequent "democratic disarray." Social scientist Francis Fukuyama, like Putnam, draws heavily on Alexis de Tocqueville in his recent book, Trust: The Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity, and compellingly argues that a society's capacity to cooperate within associations cultivates a "spontaneous sociability" that enhances competitiveness. What is lost on many, however, is that lamenting the loss of social capital comes tantalizingly close to acknowledging that strengthening the moral fiber of a society is good, beneficial, and necessary. Although not explicitly theological, social ...
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