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Religiosity and social capital in Mediterranean and Continental Croatia

This paper attempts to assess differences in social capital of religious and nonreligious respondents in Mediterranean and Continental Croatia, based on the results of a 2018 nationally representative survey of Croatian adults (GENMOD, HRZZ-IP-2016-06-6010). The approach to analysis is based primarily on Bourdieu’s notion of social capital, defined as “... the aggregate of the actual or potential resources which are linked to possession of a durable network of more or less institutionalized relationships of mutual acquaintance and recognition /…/ which provides each of its members with the backing of the collectivity-owned capital” (Bourdieu 1986: 248-249). In Bourdieu’s approach, the latter represents a resource that can be converted into economic capital. Consequently, it is of importance to discussions of regional development potential. Furthermore, a Bourdieusian approach to social capital is of relevance to development studies because it is deeply reliant on the context of a particular social space. The results of the analysis reveal that religiosity of the respondents and their social and economic capital are differently distributed in Mediterranean and Continental Croatia, as well as in the capital city of Zagreb, which was analysed separately, since previous research (Tomić-Koludrović, Puzek, Petrić, 2018) suggests that numerous indicators for that city differ significantly from those of the general sample. The analysis also revealed differences in the levels of “generalized trust” and trust in institutions, which were included to complement insights gained by the application of Bourdieu’s analytical categories. Religiosity of the respondents has been shown to be related to social capital of respondents in all the analyzed regions, and the results also suggests differences in micro-regional contexts that should be taken into consideration in development studies.

religiosity, social capital, Croatia, regions, development

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