This article analyzes social capital as the conceptual basis of civil society. The article presents the elements of social capital - social norms, social relations and the level of trust in society. Also, the state and prospects of development of civil society and social capital in Uzbekistan are analyzed. Moreover, the ideas of famous scientists on the development and the role of the social capital in society were analyzed by such scientists like: Per Burdeo, J. Coulman, R. Patnem, F. Fukuyama and others. The attempts to uncover social capital on the basis of the phenomenon of “trust”. The scientific article mainly uses the methods and methodology of institutional and structural analysis.

Social capital, Civil society, Trust, Uzbekistan, Nongovernmental organization (NGO).

This article analyzes social capital as the conceptual basis of civil society. The article presents the elements of social capital - social norms, social relations and the level of trust in society. Also, the state and prospects of development of civil society and social capital in Uzbekistan are analyzed. Moreover, the ideas of famous scientists on the development and the role of the social capital in society were analyzed by such scientists like: Per Burdeo, J. Coulman, R. Patnem, F. Fukuyama and others. The attempts to uncover social capital on the basis of the phenomenon of “trust”. The scientific article mainly uses the methods and methodology of institutional and structural analysis.

Social capital, Civil society, Trust, Uzbekistan, Nongovernmental organization (NGO).

There is much scientific literature describing the concept of “social capital” as factors of welfare and development, focusing on factors such as ethics, trust and effective collaboration. According to generally accepted rules, social capital is divided into individual (micro), collective (meso) and social (macro) levels. It should be noted that the “core” of social capital is “trust”. At the same time, the direction of management also pertains to the sphere of social capital [1]. At present, the position and the role of social capital is being emphasized in identifying each country’s development level and prosperity. The issue of social capital is a research object of many social sciences, and some conceptual views have been formed on this subject.

At the earliest stage the notion of social capital was formed in the field of economic sciences. Economists have interpreted social capital as the main factor of sustainable development of the state and society. If we analyze ideas, thoughts, and scientific views of past thinkers, then we can divide conditionally the genesis of the development and historical formation of the concept of social capital into two stages.

First stage (from eighteenth century to eighties of twentieth century) was the period when the foundation for the creation of the concept of social capital was concentrated, in which most social-philosophical views, ideas and concepts were gathered.

The second stage (from the 1980s to the present day) is a period of formation and development of the concept of social capital. This is mainly a period of inclusion of this concept into the scientific community and the transformation of it as a research object of many socially-humanistic subjects.

Based on scientific sources, it should be noted that the term “capital” was first used by French economist Quesnay F, which is defined as the principal and current assets of the enterprise. At that time, Quesnay F understood by the term “capital” (les capitaux, fonds, les avances) the relations of property owners with each other and the amount of property involved in production [2]. Later this term began to be also used in the works of several representatives of the traditional economic research school. Economist-scientists often interpret capital as a resource taking part in the process of production [3].

Historical analysis shows that Smith A, a British economist who lived and worked in the eighteenth century and was one of the founders of the modern economy, also focused on “capital” and its features like sociality [3]. The fact that the enterprise invests in each employee (that is, the cost of training, educating, and bringing up) will ultimately prove scientifically to increase productivity and increase profits.

The scientific views that A. Smith created for the purpose of increasing the intellectual and physical capacity of a person to influence the effectiveness of capital production, in turn, served as the basis for the concept of human capital theory and social capital. A. Smith believes that, not technically (physical capital), but personality (human capital) and its relationship system (social capital) play an important role in the economic development, and in turn, the means for human development, in particular the development of the skills, increases the efficiency of production [4]. At the same time, Smith A’s ideas on state regulation of the market economy and the establishment of certain standards are of great importance today in the promotion of categories such as social justice, moral values and mutual trust, which are an important element of the concept of social capital [3].

The term “social capital” was brought in the work of American researcher Hanifan L [5]. According to his work social capital is firstly “a significant situation affecting to people’s daily life” [5]. The author emphasizes friendship, mutual respect, kinship relations as such situations.

One researcher, who researched the social capital as urban life form as well as relations with neighbors, stressed that social capital appears to be consisted of different fields (сеть - networks) and principles.

Sociologist and economist Glenna Luri concluded that the role of social capital factor in current process has a large importance in the process of learning the degree of economical benefits of various nation representatives and distinction among them. In his definition social capital is “among people new knowledge and practice a system serves to form natural social relations” [6]. Later researchers paid attention to the conception of social capital and methodology of learning deeply. In 1983 Burdeo P defined the social capital in his work as following: “social capital is a present and possible complex including fixed branch connections based on mutual obligation and responsibility” [7].

Besides in researching the issue of social capital Coulman J, Patnem R, Fukuyama F, Shadrin A, Gracebill M, Grissaenko V and others’ works as well as their scientific theories are also important.

In addition, the moral values, beliefs and moral factors of people in the community also play an important role in the societal views of many influential thinkers, such as Grotius H, Locke J, Kant I, and Durkheim E. Nevertheless, these categories have revealed only a certain aspect or extent of social capital.

The synthesis of the concept of social capital in the system of disciplines such as economics, sociology, political science, psychiatry, philosophy science consists of the following categories:

At the beginning of the 21st century, Woolcock M identified 8 scientific fields directly applicable in the theory of social capital. These are family, youth, school, higher education, and community life, activity of organizations, democracy and governance issues, community action and economic development [8]. Today, we can add to this list immigration, human body, mental health, social welfare (citizen activity) and so on.

It should be noted that the scale of the use of social capital in scientific literature has widened. Scientists conducting research in many branches of science have enriched the essence of social capital concept and discovered many unknown aspects.

When analyzing the social capital factor, it is necessary to check the relationships and different aspects of capital with other forms of capital. These capital forms are distinguished by the fact that they are complementary to each other and enrich themselves, along with its unique features (Table 1).

Scientists interpret the sources of social capital formation and a number of factors that make it evolve. In particular, the followings are highlighted as sources of social capital:

It creates and shapes a new system of social relations. It promotes a certain social environment, strengthens relationships, increases mutual trust, and creates a human being in a social environment outside the family.

It promotes friendship between youth, community values, traditions, beliefs, habits. School, vocational colleges and higher education establishments create a new system of communication between youth, pedagogues and staff.

They unite citizens living in one social space, combine people in ceremonies, in weddings and in community service, keep celebrations, traditions, customs, values, religious rites, paintings and hand them down to the younger generation based on succession. They perform functions of establishment of youths in the pursuit of ethical education, protection from false ideas, shaping a healthy lifestyle, and empowering their talents, abilities and other peculiar positive qualities.

They help to form personal and corporate culture of employees in the economic sector, aid to exchange psychological and social relationships, along with knowledge and experience, provide with the formation of professional skills and professionalism of employees. This, in turn, has a positive impact on the economic efficiency of enterprises.

They lead to development of citizens’ free activities, their membership of NGOs, and active involvement in socially useful activities, solving social problems based on civic activism, strengthening cooperation principles with public administration bodies, increasing trust in each other, and inter-sectorial social partnership.

It encompasses effective implementation of the public administration system by policy institutes, the establishment of equal partnerships with civil society institutions and the real sector of the economy, the formation of a balance of interests and equality of benefits through the principle of separation of the state power, effective protection of citizens’ rights and freedoms.

This is participation of a small number of national and ethnic groups in social relations on an equitable basis, enhancing their social protection and confidence. It is the identity of ethnic groups (their selves), their national identity, customs, traditions, religious beliefs, persistence, and lack of threats.

Over the past 15-20 years, economic analysis of social capital has unequivocally proved its role in the state and public life. However, it has not been fully defined so far, based on which criteria, standards and mechanisms social capital functions in life. The existence of social capital plays an important role in the harmonious development of the state, business and civil society, and promotes mutual trust of all participants, satisfaction of material and spiritual needs, and welfare of citizens.

No matter how much the concept of social capital is examined in scientific literature, there is still uncertainty about the measurement criterion. Looking at the research carried out in the CIS countries, we can see that there is still no scientific basis and methodology that have been formulated yet. Indicators for the level of capital adequacy are defined differently everywhere.

For example, the Russian researcher Konkov pointed out two different approaches to the measurement of social capital in modern sociology traditions [9].

First of all, social capital can be measured directly. This is because it is reflected in the category of mutual relationships and behaviors of people. As its empirical indicators, unique characteristic features of people play an important role.

Secondly, social capital can perform the function of social structures and cannot be measured directly. The social networks and the positive results are its indicator [9].

Of course, the researcher has tried to justify the correctness and effectiveness of this method. In our opinion, his first idea is based on the size of human relationships in measuring social capital. The latter is interpreted as an indicator of the effectiveness of the citizens’ relationships and their achievements.

According to our observations, in measuring social capital, it is important to note that factors such as trust of people, first, to state and society, as well as the reformation processes which is being performed in all branches of society; improvement of lifestyles of people in the result of changes in social life; the participation of citizens with their own wills at non-governmental organizations.

The scientists are now investigating issues like who are the bearer of social capital and what criteria are there for measuring it. The answer to this question can be obtained by experimental research. Many researchers say that socialeconomic criteria can be found through socio-economic, psychological, and philosophical analysis.

Today, many researchers have done a lot of work to find out the impact of the credibility of society on the level of economic development and the classification of countries according to this. The scientific theories have been put forward by scientists and researchers. In particular, researchers emphasize that European countries relatively can be divided into three groups, i.e. high, medium and lowconfidence countries.

According to the results of the research, it was included in the first group the high-trust society countries such as Sweden, Finland, Norway and the Netherlands. The second group was the medium-trust society countries like, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Austria, Iceland, and Ireland that are among the countries where the family institution plays an important role. In the list of third-group countries (low-trust society) it can be noticed France, Spain, Italy and post-communist states, where social capital and economic growth rates are increasing [10].

Social capital is a unique and complex concept that is manifested in a non-material society, and its quantitative and qualitative measurement is quite difficult. According to the theory, in the measurement of social capital the benefits of charity, sponsorship, volunteering, volunteering, membership in NGOs, participation in the elections, adherence to daily ethical and other norms, principles and other factors should be taken into account.

In recent times, the interest of young scientists to social capital and the use of scientific research methods in various fields of science have been increasing. Experts say that in recent years, most of the scientific articles in the world are devoted to this topic. However, nowadays, more attention is paid to the issues of heuristic possibilities and self-critical analysis by social capital theories [11].

The development of the social capital index is closely connected with the civic activity of the people, which is closely linked to the activity of the individual in all spheres of public life, participation in socially useful work, motivation along with internal and external factors. Accordingly, some researchers state that social capital also depends on financial resources. That is to say, getting a good salary is a way to make full use of social services and speeding up the person’s socialization process.

The analysis of scientific literature shows that social capital has two distinct features.

The first is open social capital (bridging social capital).

The second is closed social capital (bonding social capital).

Open social capital is used to create broadband social coalitions. When creating a trust in society, it is important not only to have family relationships in a limited range, but also it is notable to deal with other people and communities. In the formation and spread of such relations mutual trust is rapidly developing and “roots”. In addition, people must adhere to universal rules and norms when dealing with each other. If people have one kind of attitude towards someone, and different to someone else, this undermines the confidence. The emergence of such social capital is called social coalitions or “Putnem groups” in scientific literature.

The opposite is closed social capital, that is to say bonding (“bond” in English means “ring”, “relation”), which interpreted as limiting social capital. It relies on certain ethical norms and is used by a very narrow range of people. Its confidence scale is very narrow, and it is used by the Olson Group.

The economics scientist and researcher Sosev SA shows the measuring components in the research on the problem of social capital study. This method is used individually for the study of social capital [12].

Today, the concept of social capital has become one of the most actively discussed trends in the scientific community. The “problematic” side of the discussion and debate is its terminological character, as well as factors that measure the level of social capital development. There is a need to further clarify the concepts of social capital factor in science, and to develop a clear system of certain categories based on this concept.

It is necessary to consider the theoretical essence of the social phenomenon, to take into account its multifaceted and complex aspects, and to emphasize some of its aspects. These are, firstly, the existence of many socially-philosophical approaches to the disclosure of the essence of social capital (such as network, communitarian, institutional, synergetic); Secondly, the perception of social capital can be emphasized at different levels in society (macro, meso and micro degrees). In the scientific description of social capital, some scholars focus on its components, while others have analyzed its appearance, the basics of its formation, or its functions.

There is no single definition or interpretation of the content of the concept. Even though different methodologies have been developed by foreign scientists to study the phenomenon of social capital, approaches to them remain diverse. In interpreting the full meaning of this factor, it is important to emphasize that its content should be highlighted its social effects, which is established based on its effective activity, as well as social capital should be stressed as pivotal phenomenon in leading auspicious activeness of society and its particular sectors.

Conceptual analysis of social capital shows that:

The societies in which social capital is developed horizontal form of social relations or horizontal social relations are formed. Horizontal relations are firstly based on equality of values and trust. And it is a system of connections including tolerance, respect, unity of concerns, human rights. Besides, horizontal relations mean mutual association that has an opportunity to share with data, resources, ideas and feelings as well as necessity.

Consequently, the author describes this phenomenon as: “Social capital is the non-material resource of society, which has been formed within the social groups, which is based on a specific system, values and trust, and which leads to material well-being in a certain period of development.”

Social capital, which is a very important category for civil society, also exists in the Uzbek society, unlike Western society, it is not economic, but deeply rooted in spiritual, cultural, religious and national roots.

After independence, it is desirable to pay special attention, during the formation of a strong civil society to the development of social capital, and its direct components such as social co-operation, solidarity, mutual trust, civil position and human rights. Social capital development in the advancement of the market economy and the liberalization of the social sector will in turn undoubtedly serve as an important factor in the formation and progress of the “middle class”.