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Social Capital: From the Gringoís Tale to the Colombian Reality

Author

Listed:
  • Ben Fine

    (Department of Economics, SOAS University of London, UK)

  • Juan Pablo Dur·n Ortiz

    (MIT Displacement Research and Action Network, US)

Abstract

The current idea of ìsocial capitalî as driver of development and social change is not so much an illusion as a delusion. A justification for this emerges once power, class, conflict and context are explicitly brought to bear upon the social capital paradigm. This paper studies social capital in Colombia beginning with its initial definition proposed by Pierre Bourdieu in the early 1980s, with emphasis upon a contextualised reproduction and exercise of elite power. In this light, the real as opposed to the delusionary social capital can explain a great deal of the social and economic evolution of the country. For Colombia has been captured by the ìsocial capitalî of national elites, drug dealers and multinational firms, ably abetted by the US government. It has launched a campaign of systematic violence against its citizenry under the paper-thin ideology of development and the war against drugs and terrorism in order to accrue profits from evictions and land expropriation.

Suggested Citation

  • Ben Fine & Juan Pablo Dur·n Ortiz, 2016. "Social Capital: From the Gringoís Tale to the Colombian Reality," Working Papers 195, Department of Economics, SOAS University of London, UK.
    • Handle: RePEc:soa:wpaper:195
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    File URL: https://www.soas.ac.uk/sites/default/files/2022-10/economics-wp195.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jan Willem Gunning & Paul Collier, 1999. "Explaining African Economic Performance," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 37(1), pages 64-111, March.
    2. Oeindrila Dube & Suresh Naidu, 2010. "Bases, Bullets, and Ballots: The Effect of U.S. Military Aid on Political Conflict in Colombia," Working Papers 197, Center for Global Development.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    development; evictions; land expropriation; social capital; war against drugs and terrorism;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O54 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Latin America; Caribbean

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