The World Bank defines social capital as the institutions, relationships and norms that shape the quality and quantity of a society's social interactions. Social capital is a multifaceted concept that implies emotional attachments to relatives and friends as well as the structural products of interactions between people. Although the term 'social capital' has come to mean 'horizontal' and 'vertical' social networks, reciprocal trust, and management of risk, and there is no doubt that a more precise definition is needed for clarity, its importance is undisputed. The relevance of social capital in bringing about economic growth is increasingly becoming recognised in as far as the bonds within, and bridges between, social groups and networks open up economic opportunities, and provide safeguards against vulnerability and adversity associated with shocks and stresses. It has been agree that social capital is one of the most important resources to be accounted for in poverty reduction programmes. They link social capital to notions of vulnerability, describing its 'reactive' and 'proactive' uses as a means of managing risk. Access to these networks requires mobility, and transport is the agency by which social capital networks are supported. Mobility is essential to the sustainability of social networks yet, to date, existing literature disregards the means by which people physically access social capital, whether in the guise of associations and community groups or simply maintaining rural-urban linkages with extended family members. Existing studies of transport and its impact on the rural poor focus largely on its role in the process of economic growth, by increasing the productive capacity and market accessibility of small-scale farmers. Few researchers have investigated the role that transport plays in providing access to and maintenance of valuable social networks. This paper draws on empirical evidence from Kenya to review the relationship between transport mobility and social capital and its relevance for rural development. It examines the significance of transport in accounting for the extent of social interaction and the way that transport interventions enable the poor to access, and be included in, social capital networks. For the covering abstract see ITRD E135448.
Samenvatting