The light and the dark of mindful social capital: right mindfulness and social capital development

Burton, Nicholas and Vu, Mai Chi (2021) The light and the dark of mindful social capital: right mindfulness and social capital development. European Management Review, 18 (1). pp. 137-150. ISSN 1740-4754

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Abstract

Despite the literatures on spirituality and social capital development remaining largely disconnected, we address how right mindfulness encourages organizational‐level social capital. We connect the philosophical foundations of ‘right mindfulness’ to bonding and bridging social capital, and the structural, relational and cognitive dimensions of social capital. We conclude that a skilful approach to right mindfulness, coupled with organizational learning heuristics, has much to offer the conversation on social capital development, and yet its potential has not been fully recognized. Despite this promise, we draw attention to a ‘dark side’ to the co‐optation by organizations of mindfulness practices and draw some further boundary conditions. We argue that a secular interpretation of right mindfulness limits its potential in organizational contexts. We conclude with managerial implications and pathways for future research.

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