Building social capital and strengthening civil society through community organizing.

摘要

Recent studies in development and democracy have sought to explain the relationship between community organizing, social capital, and civil society. While the connection between these concepts seems plausible, an investigation on whether community organizing efforts do increase social capital and whether social capital builds a more active civil society is in order. Community organizing is a process of mobilizing resources that build the capacities of disadvantaged communities to meet their own interests. Social capital refers to social relations and resources facilitated through such relations (Coleman, 1990; Bourdieu, 1986; Foley & Edwards, 1998). Civil society refers to the sphere of society outside of government and business which includes a multitude of groups, organizations, and associations that participate in public life (Barber, 2000; Cohen & Arato, 1994; Gellner, 1994; Siliman & Noble, 1998; Seligman, 1992, Alegre, 1995).; This research explores the relationship among the levels of community organizing, social capital, and civil society. This investigation draws on organizing theories which look at the role of power, issues, relationships, and leadership in mobilizing people towards action. The study uses a synergy view of social capital combining the normative and social structural perspectives. Classical and contemporary theories of civil society add to its theoretical framework.; Set in Bukidnon, a province in the southern part of The Philippines, this study employs a comparison group design using qualitative and quantitative methodologies. Data were collected from 2,869 individual surveys that gathered individual levels of social capital and 18 focus groups that gathered data on community organizing and civil society. One-way analyses of variance and correlation tests revealed the following: (1) a partial relationship between community organizing and social capital; (2) a significant relationship between community organizing and civil society; and (3) a weak relationship between social capital and civil society. Content analysis of the qualitative data provided further explanations about the relationships of these variables.; The contributions of this proposed study to social work include adding to existing theories about community organizing, social capital, and civil society and providing new ways of orienting community organizing programs towards strengthening social relations and fostering a vibrant associational life.