Bonding and bridging are continuous dimensions, not either-or categories

Evidence

Many groups simultaneously bond along some social dimensions and bridge across others. The black church, for example, brings together people of the same race and religion across class lines. The Knights of Columbus was created to bridge cleavages among different ethnic communities while bonding along religious and gender lines. Internet chat groups may bridge across geography, gender, age, and religion, while being tightly homogeneous in education and ideology. In short, bonding and bridging are not “either-or” categories into which social networks can be neatly divided, but “more or less” dimensions along which we can compare different forms of social capital. — Robert D. Putnam, Bowling Alone The Collapse and Revival…, 53

Categorization

• DEFINE: Establishes bonding and bridging as ‘more or less’ dimensions rather than typed categories, with the black church and Knights of Columbus as real cases.