Unanticipated Gains: Origins of Network Inequality in Everyday Life

by Mario Luis Small

Social capital theorists have shown that some people do better than others in part because they enjoy larger, more supportive, or otherwise more useful networks. But why do some people have better networks than others? Unanticipated Gains argues that the practice and structure of the churches, colleges, firms, gyms, childcare centers, and schools in which people happen to participate routinely matter more than their deliberate "networking."

Exploring the experiences of New York City mothers whose children were enrolled in childcare centers, this book examines why a great deal of these mothers, after enrolling their children, dramatically expanded both the size and usefulness of their personal networks. Whether, how, and how much the mother's networks were altered--and how useful these networks were--depended on the apparently trivial, but remarkably consequential, practices and regulations of the centers. The structure of parent-teacher organizations, the frequency of fieldtrips, and the rules regarding drop-off and pick-up times all affected the mothers' networks. Relying on scores of in-depth interviews with mothers, quantitative data on both mothers and centers, and detailed case studies of other routine organizations, Small shows that how much people gain from their connections depends substantially on institutional conditions they often do not control, and through everyday processes they may not even be aware of.

Emphasizing not the connections that people make, but the context in which they are made, Unanticipated Gains presents a major new perspective on social capital and on the mechanisms producing social inequality.

Genres: Sociology, Nonfiction, Education, Social Science

312 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Marley · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was so boring and so confusing, I did not enjoy it at all. (Had to read it for school)

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is some damn fine sociology. It is a fascinating and theoretically ambitious effort to think about the way organizations structure the social relationships we form. For two decades, everyone with any sociology background has been quoting Granovetter to assert that organizational relationships are often built up from or sustained by interpersonal relationships. Small makes a lovely move whereby he reminds us that the interpersonal relationships we have are often structured by the particular organizational environment in which they are nurtured. This move opens an array of new perspectives for thinking about organization, social networks, and inequality.

So, you're getting the sense, this is not the sort of sociology that is such a great ethnography you can miss the theoretical agenda here (in contrast, to, say, Forgive and Remember) . The ethnography is quite good, and the writing is pleasantly un-academic and crisp. The stories of child care centers are rich, but what makes this book worth reading is the way Small wants to change the way you think about how relationships form. It can be a little inside-baseball, but if this is a kind of baseball you like, it is well worth it.

[Wenfei Xu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unanticipated Gains is a multi-scale study of the role of organizations as brokers of social ties in the context of childcare centers. It aims to answer questions of how people make social ties and which kinds of mechanisms account for the unequal breadth and access to these ties. Mario Small argues that in order to answer these questions, we have to take an "organizational embeddedness perspective" and develop a better understanding of the context in which social ties are formed.

[Rob T]

I don't feel qualified to rate this, since I'm not in the field. But an interesting look about how institutions can (even unintentionally) create social capital via their design and service provision. And, as a parent about to send a child to daycare, it absolutely influences the value I see in parental participation in programming and services.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting study of the positive social impact having a child in day care. I am only one anecdote, but this research rang true to my own experiences with childcare. I only give this three stars because reading academic writing can be a slog. The content is fascinating.

[Xavier · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy-to-follow look into the (re)production of social capital and social ties. I walked away not just from an interesting case study but also a research agenda that is worth exploring further with more recent literature.

[Noah Goodman · Rating 3 out of 5]

SOC reading

[Lorette · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is very interesting and a possible explanation for the inconsistent results in neighborhood effects research. Small's work focuses on the social networks, particularly for mothers whose children are enrolled in childcare centers. Social capital - what is gained and exchanged in social relationships - is the framework that undergirds the interpretation here. Small's work falls in sociology, a field I think I should have focused on as a younger student. I'm going to read more of his work, I'm hooked.

[Elyssa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I learned a great deal about social capital theory via this book. The author outlines the results of his research in several NYC childcare settings and illustrates the networking that occurs in this setting.

[Tristan Bridges · Rating 4 out of 5]

So clever. Small shows how our social networks and our ability I make them work for us depends less on our intentions and much more on the contexts in which we interact. I'll look at childcare centers differently forever. Great read!

[Michael Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really important info, but written with almost Aspergers awkwardness.