Θετικό και αρνητικό κοινωνικό κεφάλαιο και η άνιση ανάπτυξη της κοινωνίας πολιτών στη νοτιοανατολική Ευρώπη

Abstract

This article presents alternative conceptualizations of social capital, emphasizing various forms of trust and participation in social and political associations. Social capital is analyzed as a dichotomous concept with two aspects: the first involves the familiar understanding of social capital as a precondition for the development of civil society and economic development; the second is an understanding of social capital as a limited quantity, available only to a circumscribed set of individuals who share common family, kin, local or ethnic origins, and thus functioning as an impediment to economic and civil society development. In the second part of the article, trust and participation in associations are employed as indicators of social capital in contemporary post-communist Southeastern Europe. On the basis of empirical sample surveys, it is argued that positive social capital is low in Southeastern Europe. Mistrust, although to a certain extent necessary in modern democratic regimes, is abundant in this region. However, there is a variation of trust and political/social participation in Bulgaria, FYROM, Serbia- Montenegro and Romania. Seven alternative strategies are presented which, if combined appropriately, may help increase positive social capital in the region.