Conceptual Study of the Relationship between ICT and Social Capital in rural settlements: Case study Iran experiences.

Rural social capital is one of the influential concepts in social sciences to understand contemporary societies. It has been found to influence many aspects of social life, directly or indirectly. It is also increasingly explored in relation to Information and Communications Technology (ICT). Nevertheless, rural social capital is a challenging variable to research, in part because of its multiple divergent definitions and measures. This paper proposes a model for understanding how ICT affects rural social capital and vice versa. It begins by presenting a review of rural social capital and then builds a framework to classify and organize ICT-related rural social capital studies. Using this framework, we identify the gaps in the ICT related rural social capital research and develop a number of propositions related to the role of ICT in rural social capital building and maintenance. Finally, the analysis suggests that the changes in rural social capital caused by ICT result in some degree of mobility in social interaction obtainable by using ICT over time. We conclude by outlining some research challenges in this research stream. Finally practical suggestions offered.