IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wdevel/v74y2015icp77-92.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Social Capital as Obstacle to Development: Brokering Land, Norms, and Trust in Rural India

Author

Listed:
  • Levien, Michael

Abstract

Based on a study of how rural land brokers mediate the arrival of a Special Economic Zone in rural Rajasthan, this paper argues that theories of collective social capital cannot explain how networks, norms, and trust interact in a process of economic change. It then reconstructs Bourdieu’s distinct theory of individual social capital by showing how better-connected farmers are able to broker land and capture profits at the expense of fellow villagers, undermining trust, norms, and collective action. It argues that social capital is most plausibly seen as an aspect of social inequality that hinders inclusive development.

Suggested Citation

  • Levien, Michael, 2015. "Social Capital as Obstacle to Development: Brokering Land, Norms, and Trust in Rural India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 77-92.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:74:y:2015:i:c:p:77-92
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2015.04.012
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X15000960
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.worlddev.2015.04.012?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wendy Wolford & Saturnino M. Borras Jr. & Ruth Hall & Ian Scoones & Ben White & Michael Levien, 2013. "Regimes of Dispossession: From Steel Towns to Special Economic Zones," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 44(2), pages 381-407, March.
    2. Fox, Jonathan, 1996. "How does civil society thicken? the political construction of social capital in rural Mexico," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(6), pages 1089-1103, June.
    3. Michael Levien, 2013. "The Politics of Dispossession," Politics & Society, , vol. 41(3), pages 351-394, September.
    4. Evans, Peter, 1996. "Government action, social capital and development: Reviewing the evidence on synergy," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(6), pages 1119-1132, June.
    5. Narayan, Deepa, 1999. "Bonds and bridges : social and poverty," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2167, The World Bank.
    6. Narayan, Deepa & Pritchett, Lant, 1999. "Cents and Sociability: Household Income and Social Capital in Rural Tanzania," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 47(4), pages 871-897, July.
    7. Agurto Adrianzén, Marcos, 2014. "Social Capital and Improved Stoves Usage Decisions in the Northern Peruvian Andes," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 1-17.
    8. David Mosse & Sanjeev Gupta & Mona Mehta & Vidya Shah & Julia fnms Rees & KRIBP Project Team, 2002. "Brokered livelihoods: Debt, Labour Migration and Development in Tribal Western India," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(5), pages 59-88.
    9. Tarrow, Sidney, 1996. "Making Social Science Work Across Space and Time: A Critical Reflection on Robert Putnam's Making Democracy Work," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 90(2), pages 389-397, June.
    10. Uphoff, Norman & Wijayaratna, C. M., 2000. "Demonstrated Benefits from Social Capital: The Productivity of Farmer Organizations in Gal Oya, Sri Lanka," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(11), pages 1875-1890, November.
    11. Cleaver, Frances, 2005. "The inequality of social capital and the reproduction of chronic poverty," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 893-906, June.
    12. Lam, Wai Fung, 1996. "Institutional design of public agencies and coproduction: A study of irrigation associations in Taiwan," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(6), pages 1039-1054, June.
    13. Craig Jeffrey & Jens Lerche, 2000. "Stating the Difference: State, Discourse and Class Reproduction in Uttar Pradesh, India," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 31(4), pages 857-878, September.
    14. Heller, Patrick, 1996. "Social capital as a product of class mobilization and state intervention: Industrial workers in Kerala, India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 24(6), pages 1055-1071, June.
    15. Chakravorty, Sanjoy, 2013. "The Price of Land: Acquisition, Conflict, Consequence," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198089544.
    16. N. Jayaram & Surendra K. Gupta & A.P. Barnabas & Sachchidananda & P.S. Pachauri & M.L. Khattar & B.N. Sampath & H. R. Khanna, 1985. "India," India Quarterly: A Journal of International Affairs, , vol. 41(1), pages 177-179, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Liao, Chuan & Agrawal, Arun, 2024. "Towards a science of ‘land grabbing’," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    2. Vijaya Kumar Murty & Sukarmina Singh Shankar, 2020. "Towards a Scalable Architecture for Smart Villages: The Discovery Phase," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-16, September.
    3. Kartik Misra, 2019. "Accumulation by Dispossession and Electoral Democracies : An Analysis of Land Acquisition for Special Economic Zones in India," UMASS Amherst Economics Working Papers 2019-16, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Economics.
    4. Lucia Dalla Pellegrina & Angela De Michele & Giorgio Di Maio & Paolo Landoni & Susanna Parravicini, 2021. "Group Meeting Frequency and Borrowers’ Repayment Performance in Microfinance: Evidence from a Quasi-natural Experiment in South Africa," Journal of African Economies, Centre for the Study of African Economies, vol. 30(5), pages 447-477.
    5. Gelaw, Fekadu & Speelman, Stijn & Van Huylenbroeck, Guido, 2016. "Farmers’ marketing preferences in local coffee markets: Evidence from a choice experiment in Ethiopia," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 92-102.
    6. Xin Deng & Miao Zeng & Dingde Xu & Yanbin Qi, 2020. "Does Social Capital Help to Reduce Farmland Abandonment? Evidence from Big Survey Data in Rural China," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-17, September.
    7. Murphy, David M.A., 2023. "Sobriety, social capital, and village network structures," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 166(C).
    8. Alkon, Meir, 2018. "Do special economic zones induce developmental spillovers? Evidence from India’s states," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 396-409.
    9. Pelz, Setu & Krumm, Alexandra & Aklin, Michaël & Nandan, Vagisha & Urpelainen, Johannes, 2024. "The spatial and economic footprint of the coal industry on rural livelihoods in Jharkhand, India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    10. Wei Shui & Yiyi Zhang & Xinggui Wang & Yuanmeng Liu & Qianfeng Wang & Fei Duan & Chaowei Wu & Wanyu Shui, 2022. "Does Tibetan Household Livelihood Capital Enhance Tourism Participation Sustainability? Evidence from China’s Jiaju Tibetan Village," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-15, July.
    11. Sai Balakrishnan, 2019. "Recombinant Urbanization: Agrarian–urban Landed Property and Uneven Development in India," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(4), pages 617-632, July.
    12. Jann Goedecke & Isabelle Guérin & Bert D'Espallier & Govindan Venkatasubramanian, 2018. "Why do financial inclusion policies fail in mobilizing savings from the poor? Lessons from rural south India," Development Policy Review, Overseas Development Institute, vol. 36(S1), pages 201-219, March.
    13. Nalin Wu & Erling Li & Yihan Su & Li Li & Li Wang, 2022. "Social Capital, Crop Specialization and Rural Industry Development—Taking the Grape Industry in Ningling County of China as an Example," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-22, July.
    14. Geoffrey M. Kistruck & Patrick Shulist, 2021. "Linking Management Theory with Poverty Alleviation Efforts Through Market Orchestration," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 173(2), pages 423-446, October.
    15. Ranjan Vaidya, 2019. "Corruption, Re-corruption and What Transpires in Between: The Case of a Government Officer in India," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 156(3), pages 605-620, May.
    16. Mallik, Chinmoyee, 2016. "Sociology of land dispossession: Social capital and livelihoods in transition in Peri-urban Kolkata, India," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 4(C), pages 38-47.
    17. Harrison, Jane L. & Montgomery, Claire A. & Jeanty, P. Wilner, 2019. "A spatial, simultaneous model of social capital and poverty," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 183-192.
    18. Bunga Hidayati & Naoyuki Yamamoto & Hideyuki Kano & Agus Suman & Asfi Manzilati, 2017. "Social Capital in Moneylenders Phenomenon in Blimbing Traditional Market Malang Indonesia," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 7(3), pages 57-61.
    19. Foa, Roberto Stefan, 2022. "Decentralization, historical state capacity and public goods provision in Post-Soviet Russia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    20. Michael Schwind & Uwe Altrock, 2023. "Negotiating Land in Rurban Bengaluru, South India," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-17, February.
    21. Cieslik, Katarzyna, 2016. "Moral Economy Meets Social Enterprise Community-Based Green Energy Project in Rural Burundi," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 12-26.
    22. Vinay Gidwani & Carol Upadhya, 2023. "Articulation work: Value chains of land assembly and real estate development on a peri-urban frontier," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 55(2), pages 407-427, March.
    23. Ivica Petrikova, 2022. "The Effects of Local-Level Economic Inequality on Social Capital: Evidence from Andhra Pradesh, India," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(6), pages 2850-2877, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Michael Levien, 2014. "Social Capital as Obstacle to Development: Brokering Land,Norms, and Trust in Rural India," IEG Working Papers 341, Institute of Economic Growth.
    2. Mladovsky, Philipa & Mossialos, Elias, 2008. "A Conceptual Framework for Community-Based Health Insurance in Low-Income Countries: Social Capital and Economic Development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(4), pages 590-607, April.
    3. van Staveren, I.P., 2002. "Social capital :What is in it for feminist economics?," ISS Working Papers - General Series 19126, International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam (ISS), The Hague.
    4. Titeca, Kristof & Vervisch, Thomas, 2008. "The Dynamics of Social Capital and Community Associations in Uganda: Linking Capital and its Consequences," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(11), pages 2205-2222, November.
    5. Sundar, Nandini, 2001. "Is Devolution Democratization?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(12), pages 2007-2023, December.
    6. Wetterberg, Anna, 2007. "Crisis, Connections, and Class: How Social Ties Affect Household Welfare," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 585-606, April.
    7. Petro, Nicolai N., 2001. "Creating Social Capital in Russia: The Novgorod Model," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 229-244, February.
    8. Tamilina, Larysa, 2012. "Characteristics of social policies and social trust," MPRA Paper 96517, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Marina Della Giusta, 2010. "Social Capital and Economic Development," Economics Discussion Papers em-dp2010-02, Department of Economics, University of Reading.
    10. Haddad, Lawrence James & Maluccio, John A., 2002. "Trust, membership in groups, and household welfare," FCND briefs 135, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    11. World Bank, 2002. "Together We Stand, Divided We Fall : Levels and Determinants of Social Capital in Argentina," World Bank Publications - Reports 15416, The World Bank Group.
    12. Serra, Teresa & Poli, Elena, 2015. "Shadow prices of social capital in rural India, a nonparametric approach," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 240(3), pages 892-903.
    13. Arshed Hossain Bhatti, 2000. "Matching Intentions with Divergent Agendas: Interplay of the State, International Donors, and the Civil Voluntary Initiatives in Pakistan," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 39(4), pages 1031-1053.
    14. Durston, John, 2001. "Social capital: part of the problem, part of the solution; its role in the persistence and overcoming of poverty in Latin America and the Caribbean," Sede de la CEPAL en Santiago (Estudios e Investigaciones) 33038, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    15. Marco Ferroni & Mercedes Mateo Díaz & J. Mark Payne, 2007. "Development under Conditions of Inequality and Distrust: An Exploration of the Role of Social Capital and Social Cohesion in Latin America," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 53818, Inter-American Development Bank.
    16. Classen, Lauren & Humphries, Sally & FitzSimons, John & Kaaria, Susan & Jiménez, José & Sierra, Fredy & Gallardo, Omar, 2008. "Opening Participatory Spaces for the Most Marginal: Learning from Collective Action in the Honduran Hillsides," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(11), pages 2402-2420, November.
    17. Dufhues, Thomas & Buchenrieder, Gertrud & Fischer, Isabel, 2006. "Social capital and rural development: literature review and current state of the art [Sozialkapital und ländliche Entwicklung: Literaturüberblick und gegenwärtiger Stand der Forschung]," IAMO Discussion Papers 96, Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO).
    18. Luiz R. De Mello Jr., 2004. "Can Fiscal Decentralization Strengthen Social Capital?," Public Finance Review, , vol. 32(1), pages 4-35, January.
    19. repec:zbw:iamodp:92017 is not listed on IDEAS
    20. Jütting, Johannes, 1999. "Strengthening Social Security Systems in Rural Areas of Developing Countries," Discussion Papers 279851, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).
    21. Tamilina, Larysa, 2012. "Group specific effects of social policies on social trust," MPRA Paper 96518, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:74:y:2015:i:c:p:77-92. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/worlddev .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.