Active Social Capital: Tracing the Roots of Development and Democracy

by Anirudh Krishna

Overview

The idea of social capital allows scholars to assess the quality of relationships among people within a particular community and show how that quality affects the ability to achieve shared goals. With evidence collected from sixty-nine villages in India, Krishna investigates what social capital is, how it operates in practice, and what results it can be expected to produce.

Does social capital provide a viable means for advancing economic development, promoting ethnic peace, and strengthening democratic governance? The world is richer than ever before, but more than a fifth of its people are poor and miserable. Civil wars and ethnic strife continue to mar prospects for peace. Democracy is in place in most countries, but large numbers of citizens do not benefit from it. How can development, peace and democracy become more fruitful for the ordinary citizen? This book shows how social capital is a crucial dimension of any solution to these problems.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780231500821
Publisher:	Columbia University Press
Publication date:	07/31/2002
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	192
Lexile:	1460L (what's this?)
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Anirudh Krishna is professor at the Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy at Duke University

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: Can Social Capital Help Support Development and Democracy?
2. How Might Social Capital Matter?
3. Structure and Agency: New Political Entrepreneurs and the Rise of Village-Based Collective Action
4. Measuring Social Capital
5. Understanding Economic Development: Why Do Some Villages Develop Faster than Others?
6. Examining Community Harmony: Why Are Some Villages Peaceful and Others Not?
7. Democratic Participation in Rural North India: Social Capital and New Political Entrepreneurs
8. Conclusion
Appendices

What People are Saying About This

Elinor Ostrom

Krishna does indeed trace the roots of development and democracy by looking at the active social capital created in villages located in rural North India. For skeptics of the concept of social capital this will be an important book. Not only does Krishna measure social capital in a consistent manner, he demonstrates the difference social capital makes in achieving development and democracy.

— Elinor Ostrom, Arthur F. Bentley Professor of Government, Indiana University

Eric M. Uslaner

An exceptional piece of scholarship. Anirudh Krishna combines statistical analyses, case studies, and a well-written narrative of how informal social connections and a willingness to work with people different from oneself can lead communities to better economic performance, more harmonious social relations, and greater participation. This accomplishment is truly astounding, [and] it was clearly a labor of love--and that, in the end, is what social capital is all about.

— Eric M. Uslaner, professor of government and politics, University of Maryland at College Park

Editorial Reviews

Active Social Capital: Tracing the Roots of Development and Democracy is an outstanding piece of scholarship. It deftly and lucidly combines a discussion of the theoretical issues, newly gathered quantitative data, and qualitative case studies to detail the impact that active social capital has on the substantive outcomes attained in the economic, social, and political realms at the village level.

Journal of Asian Studies - Amita Shastri

Krishna makes commendable use of theory to frame his study and his contribution to testing social capital's key propositions is significant... Krishna's book translates the concept of social capital into a set of practical propositions that have direct relevance for those concerned with improving the welfare of communities... [and is] a helpful resource for those who want to know how to mobilize the strength, cooperative actions and capacities of communities today.

International Journal of Social Welfare - James Midgley

Active Social Capital: Tracing the Roots of Development and Democracy is an outstanding piece of scholarship. It deftly and lucidly combines a discussion of the theoretical issues, newly gathered quantitative data, and qualitative case studies to detail the impact that active social capital has on the substantive outcomes attained in the economic, social, and political realms at the village level.

— Amita Shastri

Journal of Asian Studies

Krishna makes commendable use of theory to frame his study and his contribution to testing social capital's key propositions is significant... Krishna's book translates the concept of social capital into a set of practical propositions that have direct relevance for those concerned with improving the welfare of communities... [and is] a helpful resource for those who want to know how to mobilize the strength, cooperative actions and capacities of communities today.

— James Midgley

International Journal of Social Welfare