Unanticipated gains: origins of network inequality in everyday life

Why do some people have better social networks than others? This book argues that the answer lies less in people's deliberate 'networking' than in the institutional conditions of the colleges, firms, gyms, and other organizations in which they happen to participate routinely

Why do some people have better social networks than others? This book argues that the answer lies less in people's deliberate 'networking' than in the institutional conditions of the colleges, firms, gyms, and other organizations in which they happen to participate routinely.

Preface Part I: Personal Ties in Organizational Settings 1. Social Capital and Organizational Embeddedness 2 Part II: Social Ties 3. Opportunities and Inducements: Why Mothers So Often Made Friends in Centers 4. Weak and Strong Ties: Whether Mothers Made Close Friends, Acquaintances, or Something Else 5. Trust and Obligations: Why Some Mothers' Support Networks Were Larger than Their Friendship Networks Part III: Organizational Ties 6. Ties to Other Entities: Why Mothers' Most Useful Ties Were Not Always Social 7. Organizational Ties and Neighborhood Effects: How Mothers' Non-social Ties Were