Social Capital for Development: What Does it Mean if There Isn't Any? A Case Study of Agricultural Producers in Dmitrov Rayon, Russia
2002; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 23; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1080/02255189.2002.9668851
ISSN2158-9100
Autores Tópico(s)Community Health and Development
ResumoABSTRACT Social capital was the development “buzz word” of the 1990s. Numerous studies identified the importance of social capital for civic and democratic society (for a summary, see Wall, Ferrazi and Schryer 1998), inevitably decrying its gradual disappearance from North American society and its under-recognition in international development initiatives. In this paper, the author takes the discussion of diminishing social capital a step further, addressing the development implications of an absence of social capital. Preliminary fieldwork by the author among agricultural producers in Dmitrov Rayon, Russia, found no evidence of overt forms of social capital—no community organizations, formal co-operation or volunteer activity. Although further investigation of the case study site found seeds of community activity in urban areas and a social assistance structure embedded in the region's rural businesses, the apparent absence of social capital among study respondents raised questions about the universality and utility of current social capital theory. The author uses the profile of social capital in rural Dmitrov Rayon generated through her field research to discuss the influence of a command society on social capital formation. She raises issues related to the implications of limited, absent and unexpected forms of social capital for international development initiatives in general and for democratic development in particular.
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