Abstract

PENA GARCIA, Antonio de la. Social capital, culture and theories of developmentCapital social, cultura y teorías de desarrollo. Antipod. Rev. Antropol. Arqueol. [online]. 2014, n.18, pp.217-239. ISSN 1900-5407.

This article offers a critical review of the concept of social capital, focusing on the theoretical underpinnings of the communitarian approach. It argues that this approach has a culturalist bias that omits key issues of inequality, conflict and power, making it a tool that is unlikely to contribute significantly to poverty reduction or development. As an example, it describes the adoption of the concept by the World Bank and provides a case study of rural community organization in Ecuador.

Keywords : Development; participation; social capital; social networks; World Bank.

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