Social Capital: From Sad Stories to Happy Endings?

by Ericka Stephens-Rennie

One of the reasons social capital is academically disparaged (see my last post) is because it’s so hard to measure. I posted recently about some of the ways we build social capital (by playing sports, joining committees and clubs, caring for friends, neighbours and acquaintances, and, basically, living our lives in a way that is repeatedly local).

I also wrote about who is able to build social capital (from kids to soccer moms to geeks to corporate suits to eighty-year-olds who love to lawn bowl). Remember, social capital “happens when we get connected.”

In theory a ‘good’ or ‘healthy’ society should have a large and growing amount of social capital. But how the heck do you track that? Usually social scientists use indicators. Indicators are stand-in variables for when you can’t access the real deal.

Social Capital :: The Cure-All For Social Ills?

by Ericka Stephens-Rennie

I’m generally a fan of such academically fluid (and often disparaged) concepts of ‘civil society’ and ’social capital’. To me it seems self-evident that our ‘connectedness’ – and the derived norms of reciprocity and trustworthiness – is important to community. Unfortunately, my research, and the research of other social scientists has been chronicling the ‘demise’ or ‘decline’ of social capital, and even of democracy for decades.

What’s all this mumble jumble mean?

Robert Putnam, author of the book Bowling Alone, describes social capital by first pointing out the agreed on value of a screwdriver – physical capital – or a college education – human capital – to increase productivity. Physical capital is made up of physical objects, and human capital is made up of the soft skills individuals have.

Looking for Woman-Friendly Churches

by Ericka Stephens-Rennie

Happy International Women’s Day!

In honour of this special day, I have a question. In response to my last post about feminism in the church, there were a lot of great comments about Christian feminism being about seeking justice for all, and specifically for women. Liz commented that Christian feminism can be – must be – rooted in the body of Christ. She writes:

We’re called to be revolutionaries, prophets, voices of justice, activists, and even (gasp) feminists!

I certainly identify with this statement, and really feel that God made me / gave me experiences that made me a Christian feminist.

Feminism in the Church :: A Force of Evil?

by Ericka Stephens-Rennie

About a month back, some people within my faith community started an email discussion about sexuality and female v. male roles and the church. I’m still mulling over much of what was said (and hope to write more here soon), but here’s a taste while you’re waiting.

Part of our discussion revolved around an article entitled “How the Church Emasculated Men.” His answer? Men leave the church because church as we know it is feminine and pushes out all masculinity (people…music…décor…etc.). Furthermore, the author suggests, churches focus on the needs of women rather than men.

The article’s author, Tristan Emmanuel is polemical: “The solution is simple. Start encouraging men in the church to be men - not women in drag.” Emmanuel goes on to note that feminism – a force of evil – is partly to blame for the situation.

Lent for Me v. Lent for God

by Ericka Stephens-Rennie

I recently read this article on Lent and its connection to justice. As someone who grew up in a non-denominational church, I, like author Julie Clawson, didn’t know what Lent really was until university. She writes:

I was serving as a Children’s Director at a small Baptist church and was attempting to find a way to introduce the kids to Lent in tangible ways. As I pulled together resources, I discovered that many of the common practices of the Lenten season sprung from the desire for justice. Prayer represented justice toward God, fasting justice towards self, and charity justice towards neighbors. Through this threefold pursuit of justice I saw that the Lenten season encompassed more than just personal piety, but called for a period of restoration of relationships with God, with self, and with others. In essence, a specific time to focus on the ways Jesus had taught us to actually live.

Neo-Con Economics and the Injustice of Rape

On Monday November 26th, twenty people joined us for an engaging discussion of Naomi Klein’s newest book. We met together over wine and cheese to discuss Klein’s observations of what she terms “The Shock Doctrine,” watched the short film, and listened to two different responses to the book.

The following attachments are the presentations by Ericka Stephens-Rennie and Brian J. Walsh.

Ericka Steptens-Rennie’s presentation is entitled “Plots, Pressures and Penetration: Neo-Conservative Economics and the Injustice of Rape.” In it, she draws disturbing parallels between the biblical rape of Tamar, and the Chicago School of Economics’ treatment of Less Developed Countries. Definitely worth a read.

Plots, Pressures and Penetration: Neo-Conservative Economics and the Injustice of Rape

Brian J Walsh’s presentation, Entitled “From Shock and Awe to Shock and Grace” provides an analysis of Klein’s work, and pushes towards a liberated imagination that is not merely shock-resistent, but rather, shock-resilient.

From Shock and Awe to Shock and Grace