Search

The interest in the question of how social capital relates to economic and political development has become something of a scholarly fixation in the last ten years. While the concept has generated much debate, surprisingly few people have questioned the basic proposition that social capital is the key to developing strong institutions, particularly in poor communities. It is frequently argued that organizations must strive to harness whatever "positive" social capital exists in the area in which they work and strengthen it in order to bring about long-term changes. In this paper I argue something different. Namely, I propose that the existence of social capitalâ?”defined as an investment of resources in social relationships with the expectation of a return to that investmentâ?”can be a barrier to collective action and institutional change. In other words, the more individuals in a community invest in social capital, the more they become inclined toward social, political, and economic conservatism as a means of protecting their investments. Accordingly, I propose that it is only through the destruction or obsolescence of preexisting social capitalâ?”through either exogenous shocks or endogenous entrepreneurshipâ?”that meaningful change can be realized. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]