Transmission of values or access to resources? Effects of social class, capitals, and networks on civic engagement

Abstract This paper expands our knowledge on class divides in civic participation by asking a question to what extent class effect may be accounted for by differences in capitals (economic and cultural) and personal social networks. Two pathways of networks operation are considered: one related to the structure of network (size and diversity) and the other referring to the type of people someone is connected to (network content). Using Poland as a case, I evaluate the approach by using representative survey data for one urban population aged 18–75 ( N = 1010) and building an integrated measure of civic engagement. The results show that: (i) civic participation varies by class position and depends on access to resources (in particular cultural capital); (ii) individuals with larger social networks are more civically engaged, but the same is not true for network diversity; (iii) having family contacts (but not non‐family contacts) of higher average prestige is positively related to the level of participation, in line with the social influence argument; and (iv) the effect of class position is partially mediated by capital endowment and networking. The findings point to the goal‐specificity of social capital and indicate that individual social capital does not translate automatically into a community's social capital.