Abstract:
This paper brings together two issues. The first concerns the decline in rural
communities throughout Australia and other OECD countries, with potentially serious
impacts on young people in particular. The second issue concerns what social capital
means for young people. Social capital is often seen as a form of community capacity
building which may help rural communities rejuvenate themselves. However little is
known about how social capital is used or impacts on young people. The study
reported here addresses this gap by reporting a project in which young people
themselves were actively involved in all aspects of the research process concerning
social capital and other social issues within an outback mining town in NSW. The
results demonstrate important differences in social capital among young people.
