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Development Assistance, Civil Society, Social Capital and Poverty Reduction

This section deals with the biunique relationship between social capital and development programmes. Some studies focus on poverty reduction programmes' ability to foster participatory processes, civil society's role in the political debate, and social capital formation. Other studies emphasize the role of social networks and civil society organizations in a succesfull management of development projects and in the efficacy of development and poverty reduction policies.
The section is under construction: suggestions and comments are always most welcome.

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Essential Readings

• Carrol, T.F. (2001), Social Capital, Local Capacity Building, and Poverty Reduction, Manila, Asian Development Bank.

• Fournier, F., Øyen, E., Darcy de Oliveira, M., Woolcock, M., Prakash, S., Innerarity, F. (2000), Social Capital and Poverty Reduction. Which Role for the Civil Society Organizations and the State?, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

• Fowler, A. (2000), Civil Society, NGDOs and Social Development: Changing the Rules of the Game, Geneva 2000 Occasional Paper No. 1, UNSRID.

• Gittel, R., Vidal, A. (1998), Community Organizing: Building Social Capital As A Development Strategy, Newbury Park, California, Sage Publications.

• Hulme, D. (2000), Protecting and strengthening social capital in order to produce desirable development outcomes. A review of DFID's social capital project, Department for International Development (DFID).

• Nustad, K.G., Oyen, E., Skirbekk, G., Prakash, S., McNeill, D., Oyen, E., Braathen, E., Tonnesson, S. (2000), A critical review of the World Bank report: World Development Report 2000/2001: attacking poverty, Comparative Research Programme on Poverty (CROP).

• Krishna, A. (2002), Active Social Capital, New York, Columbia University Press.

• Pritchett, L., Woolcock, M. (2003), Solutions when the Solution is the Problem: Arraying the Disarray in Development, Paper presented at the Conference on Foreign Aid organised by The New York University Development Research Institute and the C.V. Starr Center for Applied Economics, New York, October 17-18, 2003.

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Further Readings

• Adams A.M. (1999), Social capital and development assistance in Mali: a cross-cultural case study, Final report to Canadian International Development Agency.

• Ashman, D., Brown, L.D., Zwick, E. (1998), The strength of strong and weak ties: building social capital for the formation and governance of civil society resource organizations, IDR Reports, Volume 14, Number 2 1998.

• Ashman, D. (2004), Closing the gap between promise and practice: a framework for planning, monitoring and evaluating social development networks, Impact Alliance.

• Asomba, E.C. (2003), Social Capital, Participatory Development and Poverty Reduction Issues: Where is the Fit for Policy Implementation?, Washington D.C., World Bank.

• Asomba, E.C. (2003), Towards an Understanding of ICT for Development, Poverty Alleviation and Institutional Strengthening, Washington D.C., World Bank.

• Bebbington, A., Lewis, D., Batterbury, S., Olson, E. (2003), Of texts and practices: organizational cultures and the practice of empowerment in World Bank funded programmes, Paper presented at the workshop 'Order and Disjuncture: The Organization of Aid and Development' 26th-27th September 2003, SOAS, London.

• Blackburn, J., Chambers, R., Gaventa, J. (2000), Mainstreaming Participation in Development, OED Working Paper Series, No. 10, World Bank Operations Evaluation Department.

• Braun, M., Cicioni, A., Ducote, N.J. (2000), Should Think Tanks do Policy Implementation in Developing Countries? Lessons from Argentina, Center for the Implementation of Public Policies Promoting Equity and Growth (CIPPEC), Buenos Aires, mimeo.

• Brown, D.L. (1991), Bridging Organizations and Sustainable Development, Human Relations Vol. 44, No. 8, 807-831.

• Buckland, J. (1999), From Relief and Development to Assisted Self-Reliance: Nongovernmental Organizations in Bangladesh, The Journal of Humanitarian Assistance.

• Carrol, T.F. (2001), Social Capital, Local Capacity Building, and Poverty Reduction, Social Development Papers No. 3, Office of Environment and Social Development, Asian Development Bank.

• Darcy de Oliveira, M. (2000), Citizen Participation and Social Capital Formation. Resource mobilisation for social development: the experience of Comunidade Solidária in Brazil, Paper presented at the Symposium Social Capital Formation in Poverty Reduction: Which Role for the Civil Society Organizations and the State?, 28 June 2000, Geneva, Switzerland.

• Dercon, S., Krishnan, P. (2003), Food Aid and Informal Insurance, The Centre for the Study of African Economies Working Paper Series. Working Paper 183.

• Devarian, S., Dollar, D., Holmgren, T. (2001), Aid and Reform: Lessons from Ten Case Studies in Africa, The World Bank, Washington D.C.

• Fine, B. (2004), Social Capital for Africa?, Transformation: Critical Perspectives on Southern Africa - 53, 2004, 29-52.

• Fournier, F. (2000), Social Capital Formation in Poverty Reduction: Which Role for Civil Society and the State?, Paper presented at the Symposium Social Capital Formation in Poverty Reduction: Which Role for the Civil Society Organizations and the State?, 28 June 2000, Geneva, Switzerland.

• Francis, P. (2002), Social Capital at the World Bank. Strategic and Operational Implications of the Concept, Social Development Strategy Working Paper, The World Bank.

• Fritzen, S. (2001), Donors, Local Development Groups and Institutional Reform over Vietnam's Development Decade, Paper presented at the Vietnam Update Conference, November 2001.

• Innerarity, F. (2000), Social Capital Formation in Poverty Reduction: Which Role for Civil Society Organizations and the State?, Paper presented at the Symposium Social Capital Formation in Poverty Reduction: Which Role for the Civil Society Organizations and the State?, 28 June 2000, Geneva, Switzerland.

• Khandker, S. (1998), Fighting Poverty with Microcredit: Experience in Bangladesh, Oxford and Washington, Oxford University Press and World Bank.

• Kishindo, P. (2001), The Malawi Social Action Fund and Community Development, Community Development Journal Vol. 36 No. 4 2001.

• Knowles, S. (2002), Does Social Capital Affect Foreign Aid Allocations?, University of Otago Economics Discussion Papers No. 0209.

• Kremer, M., Kay Gugerty, M. (2002), The Impact of Development Assistance on Social Capital: Evidence from Kenya, in C. Grootaert and T. van Bastelaer (eds.), The Role of Social Capital in Development: An Empirical Assessment, Cambridge University Press.

• Lewis, D., Bebbington, A.J., Batterbury, S.P.J., Shah, A., Olson, E., Siddiqui, M.S., Duvall, S. (2003), Practice, power and meaning: frameworks for studying organizational culture in multi-agency rural development projects, Journal of International Development, Vol. 15, Issue 5 , 541-557.

• Mansuri, G., Rao, V. (2004), Community-Based and -Driven Development: A Critical Review, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper 3209, February 2004.

• Mohan, G., Stokke, K. (2000), Participatory development and empowerment: the dangers of localism, Third World Quarterly, Vol. 21, No. 2, 247-268.

• Molinas, J. (1998), Impact of Inequality, Gender, and External Assistance and Social Capital on Local-Level Cooperation, World Development, Vol. 26, No. 3, 413-431.

• Mondal, A.H. (2000), Social capital formation: The role of NGO rural development programs in Bangladesh, Policy Sciences, 2000, Vol. 33 Issue 3/4, 459-475.

• Øyen, E. (2000), Social Capital Formation as a Poverty Reducing Strategy?, Paper presented at the Symposium Social Capital Formation in Poverty Reduction: Which Role for the Civil Society Organizations and the State?, 28 June 2000, Geneva, Switzerland.

• Padmanabhan, K. (2001), Poverty, Microcredit, and Mahatma Gandhi: Lessons for Donors, The International Social Science Journal, No. 169/2001, 484-499.

• Phillips, S. (2003), Capitalising on connections: improving understanding of urban social capital, Social Development Direct, UK / id21 Development Reporting Service.

• Prakash, S. (2000), Social Capital and the Rural Poor: What Can Civil Actors and Policies Do?, Paper presented at the Symposium Social Capital Formation in Poverty Reduction: Which Role for the Civil Society Organizations and the State?, 28 June 2000, Geneva, Switzerland.

• Prasetyo, J. (2002), Social Capital in Asia? Reacting locally to thinking globally, The Foundation for Development Cooperation, Brisbane, Australia.

• Pretty, J. (2003), Social capital and connectedness: issues and implications for agriculture, rural development and natural resource management in ACP countries, CTA Working Document Number 8032, Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA).

• Robison, L.J., Siles, M.E. (2002), The Use of Social Capital for Development and Poverty Reduction, Social Development Strategy Working Paper, World Bank, Washington.

• Thiele, R., Piazolo, D. (2003), A social accounting matrix for Bolivia featuring formal and informal activities. How has structural adjustment affected income distribution in Bolivia?, Cuadernos de Economía, Año 40, Nº 120, pp. 285-318 (Agosto 2003), Instituto de Economia, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile (IEUC).

• Vermillion, D.L. (2000), Developing Small Dams and Social Capital in Yemen: Local Responses to External Assistance, Paper presented at the Conference of the International Association for the Study of Common Property, “Constituting the Commons: Crafting Sustainable Commons in the New Millennium,” Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana, USA, May 31-June 4, 2000.

• Vermillion, D., Al-Shaybani, S. (2004), Small Dams and Social Capital in Yemen: How Assistance Strategies Affect Local Investment and Institutions, Research Report 76, International Water Management Institute, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

• Waite, L. (2001), Women running households: as vulnerable as they seem?, School of Development Studies, UEA, UK / id21 Development Reporting Service.

• Winters, P., Corral, L., Gordillo, G. (2001), Rural livelihood strategies and social capital in Latin America: Implications for rural development projects, Working Paper Series in Agricultural and Resource Economics, No. 2001-6, University of New England.

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