Social capital in developing societies: reconsidering the links between civil agency, economy and the state in the development process

The increasing vogue of the concept of social capital is not accidental. Recent contributions on the field show the revitalization of the debate on the need for a more politically effective civil society against the backdrop of globalization and its centrifugal and centripetal effects. Yet in a scenario where the state is redefined as 'residual', the conditions for the strengthening of civil agency are also affected. This paper explores the conditions of production of the current debate on the links between social capital, democracy and capitalist development. It indicates the importance of considering the historical circumstances of developing countries for the production of a critical theory on social capital and explores the complexity involved in this exercise when looking at experiences of Latin American societies.