The Social Capital in a Multi-Level Third Sector Organization: Sociological Debate and Evidence from a Research Study

The research focuses on the social capital generated in and by a large, Italian, multilevel organization (often referred to as an "umbrella organization"). Organizations are defined as multi-level when they gather under themselves other associative realities, which are bound together through relations and functions that vary from case to case and with respect to which they represent a superior coordinative level. More specifically, multilevel organizations do not supply goods or services directly but offer support to other groups locally affiliated, thus creating a network of articulated associations on two or more levels. Accordingly, multilevel organizations are internally very highly heterogeneous and differentiated. The research findings show that multilevel organizations create new forms of relationality and are potential generators of a specific form of social capital.