Social Capital and Poverty Reduction Strategies: The Case of Rural India

Abstract:     
In this essay - Social Capital and Poverty Reduction Strategies: The Case of Rural India, Claudio Cecchi, Luca Molinas and Fabio Sabatini discuss the role of social capital as a policy tool against poverty and inequality in the development strategies enhanced by international agencies in rural India. The authors argue that the role plaid by social capital in development processes suffer of some sorts of ambiguity. It is not clear whether the lack of ‘good’ social capital can be considered in theoretical terms as a main cause for the failure of development strategies, or whether this it is only one among other causes. Moreover – as the authors show – there is also evidence that social capital is not influent at all, or that, due to its ‘bad’ quality, can become an obstacle to growth. At the same time, from a policy point of view, a careful reading of programmes and reports of international organisations shows a basic incoherence between the verbal emphasis on social capital and the actual role that is assigned to it. The essay is organised in three sections. In the first, the authors define social capital and its links with development; then, they summarise the available information on poverty and inequality, both in general terms and with reference to rural India. Finally, they focus on a few examples of development projects in rural India in which social capital is assigned a key role.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 31

Keywords: social capital, poverty, inequality

JEL Classification: O10, O18

Accepted Paper Series