Social capital meets identity : Aboriginality in an urban setting

Abstract

This paper reports on a qualitative study of social capital within an urban Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander context. Using data generated from 100 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants in focus-group discussions and in-depth interviews collected by Aboriginal community development workers, this paper describes two worlds of social capital available to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The primary source of bonding social capital comes from family and wider Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community connections. In the context of an oppressive history, a second world of bridging social capital remains elusive to many Indigenous Australians. Our findings suggest that to understand the tensions between the two social capitals requires an engagement with the complexities of identity. We argue it is vital to explore the texture of social capital, rather than just measure volume.