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The Social Capital Foundation ('''TSCF''') is an independent non-profit, non-governmental Organization that pursues the promotion of social capital and social cohesion. Created in 2002, it is based in Brussels . SOCIAL CAPITAL Social capital is a key concept in economics, organizational behaviour, political science, social psychology, and sociology. Some trace the modern usage of the term to Jane Jacobs in the 1960s, but the first cohesive exposition of the term was by Pierre Bourdieu in 1972 and 1984. James Coleman developed and popularized the concept. In the late 1990s, the concept became respectable, with the World Bank devoting a research programme to it and with its currency in Robert Putnam's 2000 book, Bowling Alone. It was further developed by the work of Patrick Hunout (2003-2004) on the erosion of the social link in the economically developed countries. A number of intellectuals in developing countries have argued that this idea is deeply implicated in contemporary modes of donor and NGO driven imperialism and that it functions, primarily, to blame the poor for their condition.For instance see David Moore's edited book 'The World Bank', University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, 2007 TSCF'S PURPOSE TSCF promotes '' Social Capital '', defined as a set of mental dispositions and attitudes favoring cooperative behaviors within society. In that sense, social capital can be regarded as a semantic equivalent to the community spirit. The community spirit was theorized and enhanced notably by Amitai Etzioni and the Communitarian Network, although the concern raised by the erosion of the community traces back to the fathers of modern sociology such as Ferdinand Tönnies, Georg Simmel, Emile Durkhein or the School of Chicago. TSCF promotes social capital through socio-economic research, publications, and events. The Foundation sets up international conferences on a regular basis. THE INTERNATIONAL SCOPE REVIEW TSCF edits ''The International Scope Review'' (TISR), an international academic journal that publishes multidisciplinary research on the contemporary transformations taking place in the industrial countries. By linking three fields: economic relationships, interethnic relationships and interpersonal relationships, TISR attempts to offer a global understanding of the changes in society and the economy.Created 1999, the journal has delivered 13 issues so far, dedicated to such subjects as the implications of mass immigration to the Western countries, the real objectives of European monetary integration, the weakening of the social bond in the developed countries, the links between suicide and individualism, the emergence of the new religions, and the contemporary crisis of the family link, among others.The most recent issues bear on the definition, measurement and applications of social capital. TSCF INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES TSCF International Conferences include:
THE TRIPARTITE MODEL OF SOCIETAL CHANGE TISR is based on the "tripartite model of societal change" elaborated by Dr Patrick Hunout from the years 1995-1996 on. This model became the basis of an international peer-reviewed research publication, The International Scope Review . His work explores the formation of what he called a "New Leviathan" around the hypothesis that the upper class of society seeks to build a new order based on less equality and less democracy. His model suggests that the strategies carried forward by the "New Leviathan" link intimately the economic, ethnic, and interpersonal fields. These strategies consist in developing economic flexibility and precariousness, promoting migrations and a multiethnic society, and pushing forward individualist, hedonist and consumerist values. In a last resort, they design a weak society, enslaved to market values and governmental controls rendered necessary by the increasing incapacity of an atomized social body to manage itself. This approach suggests that strategies carried forward by the ruling class explain most contemporary difficulties. CONSOLIDATING SOCIETY THROUGH SOCIAL CAPITAL The response of The Social Capital Foundation, as expressed in various issues of The International Scope Review (1999, 2003, 2004, 2005), to the erosion of the social link consists in expanding social capital. TSCF's orientation emphasizes:
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