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Rapid change in small towns: when social capital collides with political/bureaucratic inertia

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  • Greg Halseth
  • Laura Ryser

Abstract

Successful community development is usually constructed with “bottom-up” capacity and “top-down” public policy. The synergy between these approaches has been hampered by the transition from a Keynesian to a neoliberal public policy framework. Under the stress of rapid change from major industrial projects, this article examines community development responses in the small town of Kitimat, British Columbia. Using a social capital lens, our findings suggest that despite limited senior government responses, local stakeholders have been using local and non-local network structures to: improve communication and understanding of protocols and procedures, improve awareness of community needs, access a broader range of financial and in-kind supports, transfer skills and broaden access to human resources, broaden access to infrastructure, and rapidly develop and deploy new supports. By formalizing network structures and working to strengthen local capacity, local stakeholders have been able to address many social and economic development pressures. Over the longer term, however, social capital and social cohesion among voluntary and non-profit sector organizations will require the assistance of senior government policy, financial, and program supports to be sustainable.

Suggested Citation

  • Greg Halseth & Laura Ryser, 2016. "Rapid change in small towns: when social capital collides with political/bureaucratic inertia," Community Development, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(1), pages 106-121, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:comdev:v:47:y:2016:i:1:p:106-121
    DOI: 10.1080/15575330.2015.1105271
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    Cited by:

    1. Gunton, Cameron & Markey, Sean & Werker, Eric, 2021. "Evaluating British Columbia's economic policies for liquefied natural gas development," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    2. Tuulentie, Seija & Halseth, Greg & Kietäväinen, Asta & Ryser, Laura & Similä, Jukka, 2019. "Local community participation in mining in Finnish Lapland and Northern British Columbia, Canada – Practical applications of CSR and SLO," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 99-107.
    3. Gunton, Cameron & Markey, Sean, 2021. "The role of community benefit agreements in natural resource governance and community development: Issues and prospects," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    4. Gwen Arnold & Meghan Klasic & Madline Schomburg & Abigail York & Melissa Baum & Maia Cherin & Sydney Cliff & Parisa Kavousi & Alexandria Tillett Miller & Diana Shajari & Yuer Wang & Luigi Zialcita, 2022. "Boom, bust, action! How communities can cope with boom‐bust cycles in unconventional oil and gas development," Review of Policy Research, Policy Studies Organization, vol. 39(5), pages 541-569, September.
    5. Haslam McKenzie, Fiona, 2020. "Long distance commuting: A tool to mitigate the impacts of the resources industries boom and bust cycle?," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).

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