Social capital: its role in cooperation dilemmas and the coordination of actions

This work sustains the thesis that the concept of social capital must be understood as an element that helps to solve dilemmas of collective action. The concept is theoretically and in practice useful as it can be related to social cooperation problems. To sustain that statement, I present first the problem of cooperation as a dilemma between individual interest —or maximization strategies— and collective action. It is sustained that social capital confirms that, contrary to game theory, cooperate is rational and convenient. Then, it is established how it is conceived the relationship between social capital and cooperation in Coleman, Putnam and Ostrom. It is stressed the formation of incentives to overcome dilemmas of collective action. Finally, I develop a criticism to the critics made to social capital in order to establish its possibilities in generalizing social cooperation