Human Capital Qualities in Responding to Challenges for Social Policy in the Context of De-­Structuration

Abstract

This article analyses 'broad' and 'narrow' approaches to comprehending the 'human capital' concept in the context of contemporary academic discussions as well as expert and policy debates. Based on sociological conceptual framework, we put forward a claim concerning the principal qualitative transformation in the societal reality in the recent decades – the so-called de-structuration, and analyse subsequent demands for the human capital and challenges related to social policy. By referring to several empirical illustrations, including rise of platform employment, social unrest and accelerating rates of technological cycles, we suggest the novel approach to understanding the links between the human capital and social cohesion. Traditional approaches to human capital tend to consider the latter as an 'externality' (not a direct effect, which is ultimately of economic nature), while the processes of de-structuration call for a different approach. In the situation when the determination power by structures upon individual agency is decreasing the ability to proactively form and support 'social cohesion' comes to the forefront from both practical and theoretical perspectives. This allows the comprehension of the mentioned ability as an element of human capital under current conditions. Conceptual grounds for such approach may be found in Theodore Schultz’s ideas about the 'entrepreneurial element' of human capital, which implies proactive behaviour in a broad variety of societal contexts. Elaborations of sociologists in regard to the 'solidarity' concept and the related theories including Pitirim Sorokin’s intellectual heritage (admitting the individual capacity to create new social communities against the dominating institutional stimuli) can also be relevant.