Our lives are remembered as an assemblage of overlapping stories – some of them prosaic and unremarkable, others more fraught, contingent and consequential – but most remain unfinished, punctuated only by their telling: to particular people, in particular ways, for particular purposes. In this spirit, a first-person account is provided of the making and impact of what has become the most-cited article in the 50-year history of Theory and Society. Originally drafted as a chapter of the author’s PhD dissertation, the article sought to provide the concept of social capital with an intellectual history, to forge an analytical framework integrating two (heretofore) largely separate realms of scholarship applying social capital theory to economic development, and to suggest some ways in which this framework, grounded in findings from across the social sciences, might be applicable to policy and practice. The paper itself emerged over two years from the generous input of many junior and senior scholars, several of whom were not based at the author’s university (and thus had few incentives to provide it). Pre-publication, the article’s positive reception – first amplified by a high-profile reviewer and then a widening circle of influential development researchers – played a decisive role in helping the author secure the first (and thus far only) opening for a sociologist in the World Bank’s Development Research Group. Post-publication, the paper’s key elements – theoretical, methodological, and substantive – became the foundation for a career at the nexus of (interdisciplinary) research, policy, implementation, evaluation, teaching, and mentoring across an array of sectors. It was an article that changed a life – and by extension, a lot of other lives. The story continues.

我们的生活被回忆成一堆相互重叠的故事-有些故事平淡无奇，平淡无奇，另一些则更加烦躁，偶然或有结果-但大多数故事仍未完结，只是通过讲述：以特定的目的，以特定的方式，出于特定的目的而打断。本着这种精神，第一人称视角描述了五十年来理论和社会历史上最常被引用的文章的产生和影响。。该文章最初是作为作者博士学位论文的一章起草的，旨在为社会资本的概念提供知识的历史，以建立一个将两个（迄今为止）学术领域分开的分析框架，该框架将社会资本理论应用于经济发展，并且提出一些基于整个社会科学发现的框架可能适用于政策和实践的方法。该论文本身是在两年多的初级和高级学者的慷慨帮助下提出的，其中一些人不是在作者的大学工作（因此没有动力提供该论文）。出版前 这篇文章的积极接受-首先由一位知名的评论家扩大，然后扩大到有影响力的发展研究者圈子-在帮助作者争取到世界银行发展研究中的社会学家的首次（也是迄今为止唯一）机会方面起着决定性作用团体。出版后，论文的关键要素–理论，方法论和实质性–成为跨学科研究，政策，实施，评估，教学和指导之间联系的职业基础。这是一篇改变生活的文章，进而改变了许多其他生活。故事还在继续。方法论的和实质性的–成为跨学科（跨学科）研究，政策，实施，评估，教学和指导之间联系的职业基础。这是一篇改变生活的文章，进而改变了许多其他生活。故事还在继续。方法论的和实质性的–成为跨学科（跨学科）研究，政策，实施，评估，教学和指导之间联系的职业基础。这是一篇改变了生活的文章，进而改变了许多其他生活。故事还在继续。