(Net)Working out: social capital in a private health club.
In Bowling Alone Robert Putnam considers the possibility that the growth of private health clubs and the rising rates of membership to such clubs might represent a counter-trend to his thesis on the decline in social capital. In this paper I explore this idea using ethnographic data and social network analysis. I show both that and how networks form in health clubs and I discuss the ways in which these networks constitute social capital for their members. In addition, however, I explore the 'dark side' of this form of social capital. I argue that high integration amongst some members of a fitness class can generate a power differential between those members and other, less integrated members who experience this negatively. Furthermore, with an eye on Burt's (2005) important thesis on brokerage and closure, I argue that brokerage between relatively closed clusters of agents can lead to inter-group rivalry and conflict, which, in turn, is experienced negatively by those involved.
Crossley
Nick
N
School of Social Sciences, University of Manchester. nicholas.crossley@Manchester.ac.uk
D000884:Anthropology, Cultural; D020446:Fitness Centers; D006126:Group Processes; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008962:Models, Theoretical; D012919:Social Behavior; D012931:Social Environment; D012937:Social Mobility; D012944:Social Support; D006113:United Kingdom