What Is The Relationship Between Human And Social Capital: What Transfers To Whom?

The concepts of human capital and social capital have come to be widely used across government policy and academia in relation to their perceived roles in community engagement and social well-being. However in understanding the nature of these two distinct forms of capital there seems to be a pervasive notion that by simply increasing the stocks of human capital held within individuals, we might automatically expect to see a growth in the levels of social capital in the communities in which those individuals operate. While this formula proposes a neat and linear form of social and community well-being which derives it roots directly from individual capacity building activities such as education and training, we suggest that the relationship between human and social capital cannot be so easily created and that if in fact there is to be a link made between the two, it requires an explicit and active commitment from individuals and groups to invest their individual capacity and skills in generating forms of social capital. This paper provides examples from the Australian extension sector of where in the course of building human capital, social capital has also been built.