The Vitality of the Communities
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Social Dimension
Social capital is a concept used more recently to analyse the situation in OLMCs. Social capital is made up of informal networks, clubs, societies and, more broadly, spaces in which socio-cultural interaction occurs in the language of the minority and from which individuals and communities can draw resources for development purposes. It is increasingly recognized as a key factor in vitality. The concept of social capital, as disseminated in the works of Bourdieu (1982) and in particular Putnam (Putnam et al., 1994; Putnam, 2000), has gained considerable influence in view of the renewed interest on the part of the Canadian government in community networks and volunteerism.
Social capital is a notion used by the Privy Council Office to evaluate OLMC vitality. The PCO gives the following definition of social capital: "Networks and social ties based on a set of standards and values of reciprocity (e.g. trust, feeling of belonging and obligation, community pride) that play a role of integration and mobilization in community development" (Privy Council Office, 2005b, 2005c). The model developed by the Policy Research Initiative (2005) uses the following definition: "Social capital refers to the networks of social relations that may provide individuals and groups with access to resources and supports." This concept is undeniably of interest for an understanding of the experience of OLMCs. However, within OLMCs, the concepts of organizational capacity and institutional completeness (R. Breton, 1964, 1985, 1994, 1998; Denis, 1993) have loomed larger than that of social capital, while covering virtually the same phenomenon: the contribution of social ties to the vitality of minority communities.
Forgues (2004), who applies the concept of social capital to the study of OLMCs, proposes a number of distinctions to clarify it and avoid turning it into a catch-all: a) it is important not to confuse the networks with the resources and benefits they procure; b) the standards, values and trust which are the basis for social networks are to be kept distinct from the number or diversity of the networks in a community or the networks in which a given individual is involved; c) collective social capital is not synonymous with individual social capital, the former referring to the social networks that are present within communities and determine the form that its activities and its development take, the latter referring to the individual's insertion in one or more social networks. Numerous studies of official language minority communities, whether by researchers (Acord, 1991; Alain 2004a, 2004b; Alain and Basque, 2003, 2005; Langlois, 2000; Stebbins, 2000; Guindon and Poulin, 1996) or by the provincial, regional and national associations (Cardinal et al., 1992; QCGN, 2005; FCFA, 2004a), have also introduced the factor of social relationships in a way that is close to the concept of social capital.
Informal social relationships, maintained either in face-to-face relationships or at a distance, constitute an asset to the vitality of communities. Studies show the extent to which communities benefit, for example, from the use of French outside the family and school environments, in places where people come together (Stebbins, 2000; Bisson, 2003; Alain and Basque, 2003, 2005) and in networks of virtual association and collaboration (Guindon and Poulin, 1996; Langlois, 2000). Langlois states that these networks shed new light on or even redefine the role of the metropolitan environment because of the impact of interactive networks and long-range networks through which bridgeheads can be established between local communities and linguistic communities.
Since social capital is a marker of community vitality, it also encompasses the attitudes and perceptions of individuals and groups, such as degree of trust in leaders and confidence in the future of the community, plans to participate in volunteer activities, etc. A number of ad hoc national surveys and opinion surveys have revealed these types of social capital, though not without the difficulties associated with the costs of over-sampling in the regions (CROP, 1982; COMPAS, 1989; Floch and Frenette, 2005).
Canadian Heritage has instituted and maintains an updated database including opinion surveys and significant national and regional surveys that could be used to achieve a clearer understanding of the components of and changes in the social capital of communities.
