Abstract

PORTALES, Luis  and  GABARROT, Mariana. Alternative for Understanding Poverty: Households and Social Capital in Mexico. Perf. latinoam. [online]. 2015, vol.23, n.45, pp.59-78. ISSN 0188-7653.

In recent decades, social capital has been a key element within academic discourses and social policy programs. However, the operationalization of the concept varies from one place to another, thus generating debates regarding its likely contributions -both theoretical and empirical-. The paper argues that a contextual definition of the term contributes to the construction of a more sophisticated idea regarding poverty alleviation, supporting other academic work, which questions traditional approaches. The latter is shown through the results of ethnographic fieldwork in Monterrey, Nuevo León, México, which included in depth interviews to household members defined as representatives of different poverty levels by a previous survey.

Keywords : social capital; multidimensional poverty; economic capital; human capital; development; social policy.

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