Depoliticizing Development

The World Bank and Social Capital

By (author) John Harriss

Publication date:

01 July 2002

Publisher

Anthem Press

Dimensions:

234x155mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9781843310488

The idea of social capital – meaning, most simply put, 'social connections' – was unheard of outside a small circle of sociologists until very recently. Now, it is proclaimed by the World Bank to be the 'missing link' in international development and has become the subject of a flurry of books and research papers. Harriss asks why this notion should have taken off in the dramatic way that it has done and finds in its uses by the World Bank the attempt, systematically, to obscure class relations and power.

Acknowledgements; Introduction; Where the 'Missing Link' Came From; The Fragility of the Foundations; 'Anti-Politics' in America; Social Capital and 'Synergy Across the Public-Private Divide'; The Trojan Horse?; Putting Social Capital to Work; Conclusion; Notes; References; Index

'A scathing and yet also meticulous critique of Robert Putnam's work on social capital. John Harriss shows why Putnam's work is attractive to the World Bank, and why attempts to define social capital as the 'missing link' in development are misguided and self-serving. 'Depoliticizing Development' is a must read for all students of development.' —Stuart Corbridge, Professor of Geography and Regional Studies, University of Miami, USA; and Professor of Geography, London School of Economics, UK