Social Capital and ICT Intervention: a Search for Contextual Relation

Social Capital is a relatively new and popular term in social science. It is being increasingly applied by researchers to tackle a broad range of phenomenon. Regardless of the wide applicability, the meaning of social capital is still hotly disputed, and its utility in scientific discourse is highly contested. Research findings contrary to social capitals theoretical prediction are key contributors for such dispute. Through a systematic review of social capital and ICT centric literature, combined with a grounded theory approach, this study aims to identify a contextual link or enablers of social capital in an ICT intervention. Current research identified three broader contexts acting as enablers for different dimensions of social capital during an ICT intervention which include: (1) functionalist context, (2) interactionist context, and (3) conflict context. Theoretically grounded links among context, social capital and ICT have also been discussed to show the significance of context.