Inequality, Trust and Social Capital in the Southern of Italy
How can it be explained that certain societies have a higher or lower
endowment of social capital than others? Some data will be provided here
which suggest that the endowment of social capital can be traced to a
certain configuration of social relationships. It is possible to identify in
social relationships the reasons that motivate the social actors to not be
involved in producing social capital. The aim is to explore the relationship
between social capital and inequality, verifying whether the available data
corroborate the argument that the shortage of social capital in the south of
Italy can be attributed to a greater incidence of inequality and identifying
which social mechanisms could explain the relationship. If inequality
affects social capital in a negative way, this could be explained by the
fact that it distances people from each other and increases separation
and segmentation. The result is a weakening in general trust. It is this
type of trust that motivates individuals to cooperate and participate in
the production of collective benefits. Inequality in southern society has
been, and still is, much more pronounced than in center-northern ones.
This suggests that it continues to affect social structure and relationships,
conditioning the individual’s disposition to trust and therefore participate
and cooperate with others and generate social capital.
Keywords: inequality, trust, social capital, Mezzogiorno
Parole chiave: diseguaglianza, fiducia, capitale sociale, Mezzogiorno