Social Capital as a poverty reduction strategy: A case study of Spitzkoppe, Namibia
Author
Larsen, Anne
Term
4. term
Publication year
2009
Abstract
This thesis examines social capital as a poverty reduction strategy in relation to economic development, focusing on how and why the World Bank linked social capital to poverty and how the concept has been conceptualized and operationalized. Drawing on Woolcock’s framework and a single case study of the poor, rural Spitzkoppe community in Namibia, the work aims to provide a more realistic picture that includes context and power. The case shows that it is difficult for a poor community to leverage social relationships, networks, and organizational memberships to escape poverty when these ties are weak and occupy a low social position within a highly differentiated society with unequal access to resources. Colonial and apartheid legacies, reinforced by SWAPO’s clan and patronage politics, power concentration, and limited decentralization, together with widespread ethnic inequalities, entrenched poverty, chronic unemployment, weak and uneven rule of law, group polarization, and overt discrimination, markedly constrain the practical effect of social capital. On this basis, the thesis suggests that social capital as a standalone strategy may be less effective and relevant than basic redistribution measures, investments in health and education, and the expansion of citizen rights.
Specialet undersøger social kapital som fattigdomsreduktionsstrategi i relation til økonomisk udvikling, med fokus på hvordan og hvorfor Verdensbanken koblede social kapital til fattigdom, og hvordan begrebet er blevet konceptualiseret og operationaliseret. Med udgangspunkt i Woolcocks ramme og en enkelt casestudie af den fattige, rurale Spitzkoppe-community i Namibia søger arbejdet at give et mere realistisk billede, hvor kontekst og magtforhold inddrages. Casen viser, at det er svært for en fattig community at udnytte sociale relationer, netværk og organisationsmedlemskaber til at bevæge sig ud af fattigdom, når netværkene er svage og socialt lavt placeret i et stærkt differentieret samfund med ulige adgang til ressourcer. Koloniale og apartheidarv, forstærket af SWAPOs klan- og patronagepolitik, magtkoncentration og begrænset decentralisering, samt udbredte etniske uligheder, indgroet fattigdom, kronisk arbejdsløshed, svag og uensartet retsstat, gruppepolarisering og åben diskrimination, begrænser markant den praktiske effekt af social kapital. På den baggrund peger specialet på, at social kapital som selvstændig strategi kan være mindre effektiv og relevant end grundlæggende omfordelingspolitikker, investeringer i sundhed og uddannelse samt udvidelse af borgerrettigheder.
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