Abstract
The paper draws on the notion of social capital.

I first discuss the ways in which social capital can enhance the debate on lifelong learning, for example by tackling the interrelatedness and complexity, introducing longer-term perspectives and supplying heuristic power - the ability to open up fresh issues..

I go on to consider the relationship with human capital - not one of direct opposition, but needing clarification.

I suggest examples of areas which social capital opens up for us - worktime patterns, the role of informal learning, physical environments - and conclude with questions on the following: the analytic value of social capital; its empirical application; and the role of social networks in lifelong learning.