Publication
Title
Bridging community associations in post-conflict Burundi : the difficult merging of social capital endowments and new 'institutional settings'
Author
Abstract
Associations have been labelled the main building blocks for creating social capital. It has been argued that community associations need to transform bonding into bridging ties to reach out while also creating linking ties to scale up. External development actions follow a reverse logic in promoting these associations: they assume that linking ties with the external intervener will reinforce prior social capital endowments. This article highlights the inherent difficulties of such a social engineering approach in the context of post-conflict reconstruction, describing three development interventions in the north of Burundi. It defines the process of institutional syncretism merging local with global institutional settings as a key element to social capital building. The findings illustrate how the three interventions failed to reach this objective, and question bridging associations as universal blueprints for restoring social cohesion within the liberal peace model for post-conflict reconstruction.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Journal of modern African studies. - Cambridge, 1963, currens
Publication
Cambridge : 2010
ISSN
0022-278X [print]
1469-7777 [online]
DOI
10.1017/S0022278X10000327
Volume/pages
48 :3 (2010) , p. 485-511
ISI
000282491100006
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Publication type
Subject
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 17.09.2010
Last edited 04.03.2024
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