Social capital: promise and pitfalls of its role in development

This article reviews the use of the concept of social capital in recent literature and presents examples from the Latin American context. The origins and evolution of the concept - in particular its transformation from an individual trait to a characteristic of communities - are described. The authors note that there are problems with the definition of social capital and that the ability to secure resources is often confused with the resources themselves. Negative aspects of social capital are often excluded from research and literature, and motivations are not addressed. The 'stock' of social capital needs to be understood as different from the effect of social capital. The understanding of social capital as both an asset of individuals, as well as of communities or nations leads to further confusion.

The article includes examples from Latin America that reveal the importance of social networks and community monitoring in grassroots economic initiatives. Garment workshops in Guatemala and tropical fruit packing firms in Jamaica demonstrate the role of community monitoring. Salvadoran migration and hometown associations reveal the challenges encountered in efforts to build trust in areas recovering from armed conflict.

(From PovertyNet)