Explaining Churn: Mass Society, Social Capital, & Community Churn

Population churn--the population turnover experienced by a community--can have differential effects on a community. Mass society theory suggests that because the churn rate experienced by communities can contribute to their uprooting, fragmentation, and isolation, churn is a potent threat to the stability of our modern day communities. Social capital theory, to the contrary, suggests otherwise. Social capital theory suggests that churn can have positive effects on communities by bringing new migrants with valuable human capital skills and experiences to communities. These migrants bring to their new communities the potential for creating new jobs, spurring economic development, and for initiating housing starts that expand housing options for the poor and minorities. In so doing, they help create and sustain vibrant, growing modern day communities. Yet in spite of the significant role churn may play in determining the health and viability of modern day communities, it has been overlooked in the migration literature, which is mostly dominated by individual-level research on the causes and effects of migration, particularly the pecuniary benefits to movers. Using county-level data and multivariate analyses, this research seeks to fill this gap in the literature by examining the relationship between the community and churn, from the perspectives provided by social capital and mass society theories.

Author dc:creator

• Edelen, Delores

Contributors dc:contributor

• Wright, James

• churn
• churn rate
• community
• demography
• durkheim
• migration
• population
• population churn
• poverty
• social capital
• mass society
• political sociology
• social theory
• student achievement
• Sociology

Language dc:language

English

Identifier

CFE0000224

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:stars.library.ucf.edu:etd-1183