In general, sustainable development has been defined as a process whereby future generations receive as much capital per capita as – or more than – the current generation has available (WCED 1987). Traditionally, this has included natural capital, physical or produced capital, and human capital (i.e., production factors). Together they constitute the wealth of nations and form the basis of economic development and growth. However, it has recently been recognised that these three types of capital only partially determine the process of economic growth because they overlook the way in which economic actors interact and organise themselves to generate growth and development. For the particular case of rural areas, a number of studies conducted over the last years have concluded that similar endowments with production factors do not necessarily lead to similar patterns of economic growth and development (see, for example, Trigilia 2001; Woodhouse 2006 or Nardone et al. 2010). The traditional approach to sustainable development therefore needs to be broadened so as to include ‘social capital’, which as indicated by Grootaert (1998) refers to the internal social and cultural coherence of society, the norms and values that govern interactions among people and the institutions in which they are embedded. Social capital is the bond that links societies together and without which there can be no economic growth or human wellbeing (Coleman 1988 and 1990; Putnam et al. 1993).

This research was made possible by the support provided by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and FEDER through the research projects AGRIGOBERSOS (AGL2010-17560-C02-01) and CAPSOC (CSO2011-27465).

Peer reviewed