Michael Woolcock - Pare Pense 2012

Social capital and development

Michael WoolcockDevelopment Research Group Kennedy School

World Bank Harvard University

International Seminar: Stop and Think

ONG Parceiros VoluntáriosPorto Alegre

21 May 2012

Overview

One quote

1. What is ‘development’?•Two dueling visions

2. What is ‘social capital’?•Three key ideas

3. Why does social capital matter for development?•Four reasons to care

4. What are the implications for policy and practice?•Five tasks for voluntary organizations

It is hardly possible to overrate the value...of placing human beings in contact with persons dissimilar to themselves, and with modes of thought and action unlike those with which they are familiar... Such communication has always been, and is peculiarly in the present age, one of the primary sources of progress.

John Stuart Mill

3

What is development? Two views

• Big Development• Building, transforming systems in the medium-run

• Wholesale institutional reform; enhance capability to implement• Exemplars: Vietnam, Chile 1992 vs Vietnam, Chile 2012• Logic: Development improves MDGs• Heroes: Manmohan Singh (India), Fernando Henrique Cardoso

4

What is development? Two views

• Big Development• Building, transforming systems in the medium-run

• Wholesale institutional reform; enhance capability to implement• Exemplars: Vietnam, Chile 1992 vs Vietnam, Chile 2012• Logic: Development improves MDGs• Heroes: Manmohan Singh (India), Fernando Henrique Cardoso

• small development• Compensating for failed systems now

• Target particular groups in particular places with particular problems

• Exemplars: Social enterprise, advocacy, (RCTs)• Logic: Improving MDGs is development• Heroes: Mohammed Yunus (Grameen Bank), Elah Bhatt (SEWA)

5

Complements, not substitutes

small development Big Development

6

Low cost, low maintenance, low fire danger, no fumes, child-friendly. More, better light = lower eye strain, longer study, more work, higher income

http://www.hebesolar.com/solar-powered-lantern.html

http://geospatial.blogs.com/geospatial/2009/07/alternative-energy-green-nonemitting-clean-renewable-or-low-carbon-.html

Complements, not substitutes

small development Big Development

7

Low cost, low maintenance, low fire danger, no fumes, child-friendly. More, better light = lower eye strain, longer study, more work, higher income

http://www.hebesolar.com/solar-powered-lantern.html

http://geospatial.blogs.com/geospatial/2009/07/alternative-energy-green-nonemitting-clean-renewable-or-low-carbon-.html

Where does social capital fit?

• Usually understood as a ‘community’ issue (small development)• Importance of participation; concern that it is declining, etc

• But to be truly useful, must speak to both small and Big Development • e.g. Putnam (1993) on Italy: micro-mechanisms AND

macro-performance• e.g. Tendler (1997) on ‘good governance’ in Brazil

8

Rules systems

Big, contentious, transitions

What is social capital?• An “essentially contested concept” (Gallie 1956)

• Like culture, power, ‘rule of law’…• A contemporary manifestation of an “anthropological constant”

• Absence of clear, clean, consensus on definition and measurement is fine• Does its work through the dialogue (even disagreements) it generates

• Especially across ideological, disciplinary, communal lines

• Improvements, refinements? Yes, of course• Eventual shared, final agreement? No (probably never)

• Will be as inherently contentious as the competing approaches that deploy it• Marxism, Rational Choice Theory, Structural Functionalism, Complexity

10

Social capital’s rise and routinization

11

Data source:Scholar.Google

What is social capital?

• The Core Ideas1. (a) Definitions

• Social capital—the norms and networks enabling people to share resources and work together

• Assets in relationships (not just money, education, property)…• “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know”

• …but also have important intrinsic value • Ubuntu: “I am because we are”

12

• The Core Ideas1. (b) Debates

• New idea? (Old wine, new bottle)• Downsides? (Can harm as well as help)• Reductionism? Cause or effect?• Blaming the victim? Capitulation to economics?

13


• The Core Ideas2. Data and Evidence

• Measurement (secondary, primary; quant, qual)• Trends (e.g., levels participation over time)• Links to other things we care about

• Health, education, employment, crime, innovation, ‘happiness’

14


• The Core Ideas3. Dimensions

• Bonding, bridging, linking

15


Dimensions of social capital

• Bonding• connections to people ‘like you’

• (similar to, but not synonymous with, ‘strong ties’)• associated with survival (‘getting by’), intrinsic worth, meaning

16



• (similar to, but not synonymous with, ‘strong ties’)• associated with survival (‘getting by’), intrinsic worth

• Bridging• connections to people ‘not like you’

• (similar to, but not synonymous with, ‘weak ties’)• associated with mobility (‘getting ahead’), instrumental value

17



• (similar to, but not synonymous with, ‘strong ties’)• associated with survival (‘getting by’), intrinsic worth

• Bridging• connections to people ‘not like you’

• (similar to, but not synonymous with, ‘weak ties’)• associated with mobility (‘getting ahead’), instrumental value

• Linking• connections to people in positions of power

• used to leverage resources, ‘get things done’

18

19

Bonding

Bridging

Linking

What is social capital?• Applying the Core Ideas

1. Managing transitions• Stemming from change, crises, opportunities• Often involves identity shifts, entering/leaving networks

20

Making social transitions

21

Welfare

Diversity of network

a

b

c

Making social transitions

22

Welfare

Diversity of network

a

b

cD

E

F


• Applying the Core Ideas2. Engaging mechanisms of inclusion/exclusion

• How are they created, sustained, changed?• Who is “us”? Who is excluded? How?

23


• Applying the Core Ideas3. Negotiating solutions to ‘adaptive’ problems

• Building constituencies, forging agreements, nurturing trust

• Paths to progress often highly non-linear• Big implications for how ‘success’ is measured

• Shifting focus from technical issues and copying ‘best practices’ to solving specific problems

The single most common source of leadership failure – in politics, community life, business or the nonprofit sector – is that people, especially those in positions of authority, treat adaptive challenges like technical problems.

Ronald Heifetz and Marty Linsky (2004)Leadership on the Line

24


• Applying the Core Ideas4. Relational aspects of service delivery

• e.g. Teaching: 6hrs/day * 200 days/year * 12 years

• Often across a power divide• Priest/parishioner, Doctor/patient, Lawyer/client

• Powerful actor often has considerable discretion

• Not just teaching and curative care, but key aspects of agricultural extension, social work, policing

25

So why does social capital matter for development?

Why is social capital important for integrating the “duelling visions” of development’?

26

Four reasons why social capital really matters for understanding Big and small development

1. Because the four-fold transitions to ‘modernity’ qualitatively transform…

• Social relations• Identities, networks

• Rules systems• Norms, laws, ‘rules of the game’

• Meaning systems• Expectations, explanations

27


1. Because the four-fold transitions to ‘modernity’ qualitatively transform…• Social relations

• Identities, networks• Rules systems

• Norms, laws, ‘rules of the game’ • Meaning systems

• Expectations, explanations

…and these transitions are necessarily mediated in and through social institutions• Households, kinship systems, civic associations,

religious organizations, business networks, interest groups

28

Because at least three items are central to (a) doing serious analysis and advising, and (b) making most policies and projects “work”:

• CONTEXTS• Understanding how incentives, expectations, preferences,

and aspirations are formed and evolve• Understanding the diverse strategies used to realize them

29





• PROCESSES• Where are the weak links in the implementation chain?• Where can external agents be most helpful?

30





• PROCESSES• Where are the weak links in the implementation chain?• Where can external agents be most helpful?

• ADAPTIVE DECISION-MAKING• Where extensive face-to-face problem solving (negotiation)

is necessarily required

31


Five implications for policy and practice1. Survival and mobility in poor communities

• How do marginalized groups “get by” and “get ahead” (or not)?

• Why are some groups seemingly “stuck”? • How can the dynamics (not just the demographics) of

difference be constructively addressed?

32

1. Survival and mobility in poor communities• How do marginalized groups “get by” and “get ahead”

(or not)? • Why are some groups seemingly “stuck”? • How can the dynamics (not just the demographics) of

difference be constructively addressed?

2. Rethinking service delivery• How do civil society groups contribute to enhanced

government/provider performance?• As source of countervailing power (Indonesia)• As mechanism of real-time accountability, feedback• As co-producers of public goods

33

Five implications for policy and practice

1. Sustaining livelihoods, respecting identities• How to provide good jobs, uphold basic well-being for all,

and maintain community integrity?• Social capital as part of, not substitute for, a coherent and

supportable development strategy

34





2. Harnessing diversity, promoting inclusion• Resolving collective action problems (Hume, Putnam)• Making diversity work (Scott Page: The Difference)

• Instrumentally and intrinsically

35





2. Harnessing diversity, promoting inclusion• Resolving collective action problems (Hume, Putnam)• Making diversity work (Scott Page: The Difference)

• Instrumentally and intrinsically

3. Anticipating, managing conflict• Development is change, change is contentious• Conflict a product of failure and success (Barron et al 2011)

36


Further readings• Woolcock, Michael and Deepa Narayan (2000) “Social capital:

implications for development theory, research and practice” World Bank Research Observer 15(2): 225-49

• Pritchett, Lant and Michael Woolcock (2004) “Solutions when the solution is the problem: arraying the disarray in development” World Development 32(2): 191-212

• Szreter, Simon and Michael Woolcock (2004) “Health by association? social capital, social theory, and the political economy of public health” International Journal of Epidemiology 33(4): 650-67

• Jones, Veronica Nyhan and Michael Woolcock (2010) “Measuring the dimensions of social capital in developing countries”, in Geoffrey Walford, Eric Tucker, and Madhu Viswanathan (eds.) The Sage Handbook of Measurement Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, pp. 537-560

• Barron, Patrick, Rachael Diprose and Michael Woolcock (2011) Contesting Development: Participatory Projects and Local Conflict Dynamics in Indonesia New Haven: Yale University Press

• Woolcock, Michael (2011) “Civil society and social capital”, in Michael Edwards (ed.) Oxford Handbook of Civil Society New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 197-208

• Pritchett, Lant, Michael Woolcock and Matt Andrews (2012) “Looking like a state: techniques of persistent failure in state capability for implementation” Journal of Development Studies (forthcoming)

37

Education

Michael Woolcock - Pare Pense 2012