The Role of Social Capital in Agricultural and Rural Development:Lessons Learnt from Case Studies in Seven Countries

Abstract

The importance of social capital for agricultural and rural development is explored in this paper through the analysis of seven comprehensive case studies that have been carried out in the framework of the European RETHINK research programme. The case studies are based on rather different initiatives at the interface between agricultural and rural development in Germany, Spain, Italy, Lithuania, Latvia, Denmark and Israel. The case studies represent a broad spectrum of socio‐economic and agricultural contexts and focus on the role of social capital for development. We explore how social capital materialises in the context of rural areas, and what nuances it acquires in different rural environments. The case studies are used to better understand, and to illustrate, different expressions of social capital in different situations. Within the broad notion of social capital, we pay particular attention to trust, cooperation, sense of community, and culture and tradition. All four dimensions play a critical role in agricultural and rural development as they affect how people relate to each other, organise themselves and interact for development.

‘Just ask Eric’: On the Importance of Governance Efficacy, Territorial Ties and Heterogenous Networks for Rural Development

“…This is also supported by a very recent cross‐European study that emphasises the role of local sense of identity and culture for trust and social capital and identify how it makes a particular difference in the Danish case (Rivera et al . 2019). Similarly, Winther and Svendsen show how bonding and bridging social capital (Putnam 2000) in Danish peripheral rural areas can challenge dominant discourses of the absence of development (Winther and Svendsen 2012).…”

Estrategias sociales, crisis y gobernanza rural. Paradojas de la resiliencia en la montaña pirenaica, Navarra

“…La interpretación de Putman (1993de Putman ( , 1995 como dimensión que predispone el desarrollo, abre el concepto a los análisis del desarrollo global y regional (World Bank, 1997;Lin, 2001;Malecki, 2012;Foronda-Robles y Galindo, 2012). Nuestro interés aquí se centra en su utilización en los estudios rurales, especialmente aquellos que indagan sobre el desarrollo, la identidad y el cambio social (Falk y Kirpatrick, 2000;Garrido y Moyano, 2002;Anderson y Bell, 2003;Jóhannesson et al 2003;Shortall, 2004;Lee et al, 2005;Carmo y Santos, 2013;Phillips, 2015;Gallent, 2015;Rivera et al, 2019).…”

Enduring rural poverty: Stigma, class practices and social networks in a town in the Groninger Veenkoloniën

“…Concepts such as social exclusion and social capital have become inextricably linked to poverty and have consequently been the subjects of vigorous research. However, the majority of empirical investigations into socio-spatial dimensions of poverty have been set in urban locales (see Rivera et al, 2019 ; Sampson et al, 2002 ). In contrast, notably less empirical investigation has been done into social dimensions of poverty in rural contexts – even though scholars have historically debated the differences in social dynamics between cities and the countryside, and in fact used to describe urban and rural social fabrics as polar opposites (see Tönnies, 1887 ; Simmel, 1903 ).…”

“…In contrast, notably less empirical investigation has been done into social dimensions of poverty in rural contexts – even though scholars have historically debated the differences in social dynamics between cities and the countryside, and in fact used to describe urban and rural social fabrics as polar opposites (see Tönnies, 1887 ; Simmel, 1903 ). Affirming this notion is the growing awareness in rural studies that the role of the rural in social mechanisms underlying enduring poverty requires a better understanding (see Rivera et al, 2019 ; Edzes and Strijker, 2017 ; Shucksmith, 2012 ; Milbourne and Doheny, 2012 ; Meert, 2000 ).…”