Emilio Zola - Germinal

World Development Vol. 27, No. 12, pp.
2021±2044, 1999
© 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved
Printed in Great Britain
www.elsevier.com/locate/worlddev 0305-750X/99/$ - see front matter
PII: S0305-750X(99)00104-7
Capitals and Capabilities: A Framework for Analyzing

Peasant Viability, Rural Livelihoods and Poverty
ANTHONY BEBBINGTON *
University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, USA
Summary. Ð On the basis of themes emerging in current debates on rural development in Latin
America, this paper develops an analytical framework for analyzing rural livelihoods in terms of
their sustainability and their implications for rural poverty. The framework argues that our
analyses of rural livelihoods need to understand them in terms of: (a) people's access to five types
of capital asset; (b) the ways in which they combine and transform those assets in the building of
livelihoods that as far as possible meet their material and their experiential needs; (c) the ways in
which people are able to expand their asset bases through engaging with other actors through
relationships governed by the logics of the state, market and civil society; and (d) the ways in
which they are able to deploy and enhance their capabilities both to make living more meaningful
and to change the dominant rules and relationships governing the ways in which resources are
controlled, distributed and transformed in society. Particular attention is paid to the importance of
social capital as an asset through which people are able to widen their access to resources and
other actors. © 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Key words sustainable livelihoods, assets, social capital, peasants, Latin America, Andes
1. INTRODUCTION resources (Leach, Mearns and Scoones, 1998,

p. 7). 1
This paper is a response to the disappointing
effects of development interventions in the high
Andes and other such ``marginal'' environ-ments * I am grateful to the financial support from the
(Zoomers, 1998; van Niekerk, 1997). It is not, Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Livelihoods Program
though, an inquiry into why those impacts at the International Institute for Environment and
have been so limited; it is instead an effort to Development, and particularly to Simon Croxton who
develop a framework that broadens our encouraged me to write this paper. Its preparation was conception
of rural livelihoods in such a way partly funded by the UK Department for International that may help
rethink the nature, location and Development's support to IIED's ``Policies that Work content of
interventions so that they are more for Sustainable Agriculture and Regenerating Rural consonant with the
diverse ways in which Economies'' research project, and by a Hewlett Fellow-people make a living and
build their worlds. As ship at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Zoomers (1998) has
recently suggested for the Sciences at Stanford (1998±99) which provided a great Andes, and as Scott
(1998) has argued more environment to round out the thinking the paper aims to generally, one important
reason projects fail is crystallize. Comments from Simon Croxton, Neela probably that they simply
misperceive the way Mukherjee, Jim Scott, Cecilia Tacoli, Gustavo Gordillo, people get by and get things
done. In particu- Robin Mearns and two anonymous reviewers were very lar, I want to suggest that a large
part of the helpful. I also want to acknowledge the influence of problem is that interventions work with
ways of Andrew Steer, Gloria Davis, and two groups of graduate seeing the world that continue to crunch
rural students at Boulder. The title of this paper was inspired livelihoods into the category of agricultural
and by Amartya Sen's (1997) World Development editorial natural resource-based strategies. Even sophis- on
Human Capital and Human Capability that captured ticated frameworks aiming to analyze rural so nicely
my nagging concerns about the language of resource use emphasize access to environmental capitals and
provided a way forward in the thinking that resources and ultimately convey an image of is the foundation
of this paper. Final revision accepted:
rural people making their living from natural 20 April 1999.
2021
2022 WORLD DEVELOPMENT
This paper is therefore an attempt to build a not to fall into the trap of voluntarism, for
framework that approaches rural livelihoods and of course a person's assets are in large part
poverty without automatically linking their determined by the structures and logics at
analysis to agriculture or natural resources. In work in economic and political spheres (see
developing its case, the paper builds on recent below). They are, however, also—to some
writing on environmental entitlements (Leach, extent—both reflections and components of
Mearns and Scoones, 1998, 1999) as well as the the meaning the person has tried to create
wider literature on access to resources (Africa, through their livelihood strategies. This
1989; Bryant, 1992, pp. 21±24; Ribot, 1998). It meaning will then be one of several influ-
aims to develop these frameworks further in ences in subsequent decisions people make
several ways. In the remainder of this intro- about their livelihood strategies;
duction let me anticipate these different elabo- (b) assets—or what I call capitals in this
rations. framework—are not simply resources that
First, I argue that it is important to have a people use in building livelihoods: they are
wide conception of the resources that people assets that give them the capability to be
need to access in the process of composing a and to act. Sen (1997) has noted that the
livelihood, perhaps especially in a context possession of human capital not only means
where peoples' livelihoods shift from being people produce more, and more efficiently;
directly based on natural resources, to liveli- it also gives them the capability to engage
hoods based on a range of assets, income more fruitfully and meaningfully with the
sources and product and labor markets. 2 This world, and most importantly the capability
leads me to consider livelihoods in terms of to change the world. The same is also true,
access to five types of ``capital'' asset 3 —pro- in other ways, for the other types of capital.
duced, human, natural, social and cultural The framework thus understands these as-
capital (cf. Bebbington, Kopp and Rubinoff, sets not only as things that allow survival,
1997; Bebbington, 1997; Scoones, 1998; adaptation and poverty alleviation: they are
Carney, 1998). This conceptualization has a also the basis of agents' power to act and to
related benefit, perhaps more potential than so reproduce, challenge or change the rules that
far real, of conceiving livelihood sustainability govern the control, use and trans-formation
within a framework that could also be used for of resources (cf. Giddens, 1979).
thinking of regional and national sustainability In some sense, this framework thus sees
(cf. World Bank, 1996, 1997), thus suggesting assets as vehicles for instrumental action
elements of a framework that could link levels (making a living), hermeneutic action (making of
analysis in research and practice addressing living meaningful) and emancipatory action
the relationship between environment, society (challenging the struct ures under which one
and development (cf. Blaikie, 1989; 198 ). makes a living) (cf. Habermas, 1971).
Second, the paper suggests that we need a Third, and critically, to conceive of liveli-
framework that bridges the more materialist hoods as partly dependent upon households'
(cf. World Bank, 1990) and the more social capital offers a more integrated frame-
hermeneutic and actor-centered (cf. Chambers, work for thinking about access to resources.
1 9 87 ; S co on es an d Th 4o mp s on , 1 99 4 ) n o ti o ns In d eed , s een th i s way, t h e d i s t in ct i on
b et w een We t h erefo re acces s and r eso ur ces b reaks do wn , b ecaus e of
p o vert y an d l i vel i h oo d .
require a notion of access to resources that access becomes perhaps the most critical
helps us not only understand the way in which resource of all if people are to build sustainable,
people deal with poverty in a material sense (by poverty alleviating rural livelihoods.
making a living), but also the ways in which: Fourth, it is important that a framework
their perceptions of well-being and poverty are understanding poverty in terms of assets also
related to their livelihood choices and strate- incorporates an analysis of the economic, social
gies; and the capacities that they possess both and political relationships that create poverty
to add to their quality of life and also enhance and wealth, but in such a way that (i) under-
their capabilities to confront the social condi - stands these relationships as potentially
tions that produce poverty. In the framework contingent and subject to re -negotiation, and
advanced here, then: (ii) links this contingency to the capabilities that
(a) peoples' assets are not merely means people have as a result of the assets at their
through which they make a living: they also disposal. Assets are thus as much implicated in
give meaning to the person's world. This is empowerment and change, as they are in
CAPITALS AND CAPABILITIES 2023
survival and ``getting by.'' 6 It is in this sense that of access to resources and institutional spheres
access and social capital are central ele-ments to is critical in determining the relative viability
the framework. They are the concepts for and sustainability of livelihoods, thus justifying
analyzing the relationships and transactions a conception of livelihoods rooted in a notion of
between the members of a rural household and access. Second, I present the basic elements of
other actors—relationships mediated by the the capitals framework, and then suggest
logics of the state, the market and civil society. several ways in which this framework could As rural
people try and access resources they usefully be developed. The final section focuses
do so through engagin g in relationships with on one of the five capitals in particular,
other actors who are both present but more suggesting ways in which the concept of social
often than not usually absent from the day-to- capital might help us elaborate the relationship
day activities of rural people. Indeed access to between access, institutions and livelihood.
other actors is conceptually prior to access to
material resources in the determination of
livelihood strategies, for such relationships 2. WHY ACCESS TO RESOURCES?
become almost sine qua non mechanisms DEBATING PEASANTS AND
through which resources are distributed and LIVELIHOODS IN THE ANDES
claimed, and through which the broader social,
political and market logics governing the Access to resources has been a constant
control, use and transformation of resources theme in debates on peasant (or campesino) 7
are either reproduced or changed. economy and livelihoods in the Andean region.
The social capital debate helps develop this While some authors have laid far greater
aspect of the framework, for it helps us emphasis on the constraints on peasant access
understand how actors engage with other actors to resources, others have either been more
in the spheres of market, state and civil society optimistic about the possibility that this access
in order to gain access to resources, to influence might be widened, or about the chances of
the de jure rules of access in a society, increasing the returns to the resources that
or to turn their assets into commodity bundles households control. This section reviews some
(cf. Sen, 1981; Evans, 1996). Building on this of the themes in these discussions. It pays
debate, the paper also argues that we ought not particular attention to recent policy
discussions automatically link the access question to the regarding livelihood viability (for
these revolve notion of ``conflict over access'' (Bryant, 1992, around the notion that peasants '
limited access pp. 21±24)—not for reasons of linguistic tone, to resources greatly constrains
the viability of but rather for reasons of empirical balance, for their livelihoods), and to
research on instances indeed, there may be as much initiative and where rural people have in
fact been able to collaboration in widening access as there is improve their livelihoods —for
this research conflict in the process of securing it. It is shows that critical to these
improvements has therefore important to develop frameworks been the possibility of gaining
wider access to a that capture all these dimensions of access, and range of resources and
improved access to not only the conflictual—they must capture other state, market and civil
society actors. both the dynamics of conflict emphasized by
Leach, Mearns and Scoones (1998), and those (a) From functional dualism to ``los
of cooperation emphasized more by authors no-viables''—images of limited access
such as Evans (1996) and Tendler (1997).
Most of the paper elaborates these different Since the 1970s and 80s, much of the debate
aspects of the framework. In developing its about Andean livelihoods and peasant econ-
arguments, the geographic focus of much of the omy has been heavily influenced by a (not
discussion and many of the examples is the always easy) mix of concepts deriving from
Andean region. The themes are, though, of far dependency, world systems, unequal exchange,
wider relevance for thinking about sustainable and mode of production theory (de Janvry,
rural livelihoods and economies. First, the paper 1981; Deere and de Janvry, 1979; Hindess and
reviews the changing ways in which rural Hirst, 1975). While much ink was spilled in
livelihoods and poverty have been debated and trying to define the parameters of a peasant
analyzed. The debates on rural livelihoods have— mode of production as a precursor to under-
perhaps more implicitly than explic-itly—come to standing its internal dynamics, the general sense
demonstrate how the resolution that emerged from much of this literature
was that the campesino economy was tied to the on agriculture in general, and the small farm
wider political economy in ways that extracted sector in particular (Kay, 1995; Gwynne, 1997;
surplus value from rural areas, that constrained Weeks, 1995). Various studies have looked a t
peasant access to resources (primarily land) and the differing impacts of these policies on that
involved very unfavorable relationships different types of producer and producer between rural
people and both the market and context (e.g., Enriquez, 1998). The shift of state. Under this set
of relationships, the peas- mood is that of a certain ``defeatism'' on the antry not only provided
cheap food to the part of those who would have ``taken the side urban economy, but because
their income was of the peasants'' in the past. In some cases, this low and asset base limited,
had to migrate defeatism is phrased in more empirical terms— periodically—thus also
providing the economy that in the face of the macroeconomic shifts with cheap labor. Such
notions of ``functional that are occurring in the region, a significant
dualism'' paralleled ideas of the labor reserve part of the peasant economy is in many
economy in southern Africa and work on the instances ``not viable. '' 8 In other cases it is
urban informal sector (Bromley, 1979). phrased in normative terms—namely, that in a
These approaches to peasant economy have context of scarce public finances, the peasant
also influenced work on the environmental economy ought not be seen as an object of
dimensions of sustainability. Drawing (not public investment.
always explicitly) on the notion of a dual Together these changes seem to have led to a
economy whose parts were linked in a rela- certain truncation of all the grander theoretical
tionship that was functional to the needs of the discussion of the 1970s and 1980s: in the 1990s,
capitalist system, these studies identified two interpretations have been more empirical, more
forces driving degradation (Durham, 1995). On narrowly focused and less hopeful. While still
the one hand was the degradation that derived in the pessimistic vein of the earlier arguments,
from the progressive impoverishment of the these reflections on viability shed the theoreti-
peasant economy that led farmers to overuse cal notions of functional dualism. Indeed, the
resources and use unsustainable practices ``ra- notion of ``functionality'' is often gone. In some
tionally, and sometimes rationally in despera- conceptions peasants are seen as dysfunctional
tion'' (Chambers, 1987). This was degradation to the overall economic model because they
resulting from survival oriented livelihood control land resources that could be used more
strategies. On the other hand was degradation efficiently by capitalist producers—and/or
deriving directly from the activities of capitalist because their production systems degrade land
enterprises operating with a relatively short with consequent adverse downstream effects. ti me
horizon, and consuming natural resources Other conceptions, though conveying a far in order to
transform them into financial more critical conceptualization of a wider resources. In these
models the state supported political economy that simply has no need for these enterprises,
offering or protecting different the campesino sector, can still frequently lead forms of natural
and policy subsidy to their to the conclusion that this is a peasantry
operations (and thus to the degradation of surplus to str uctural requirements, and that the
rural resources) (Durham, 1995). policy (and theoretical) challenge is to under-
This earlier analysis of the peasant economy stand the scope for alternative sources of live -
was conducted under the policy contexts of lihood in the
u r b a n s e c t o r . i m p o r t s u b s t i t u t i o n i n d u s tThough
r i a l i z aonly —a
t i o n marginally an Andean country,
c o n t e x t i n w h i c h t h e s t a t e a s s u m e d a n the i mexperience
p o r - t a n t in Chile lies behind much of this
r e g u l a t o r y a n d i n t e r v e n t i o n i s t r o l e . T hshift
u s , in
w hthinking.
ile Throughout the Pinochet era
p e s s i m i s t i c i n a n a l y s i s , t h e r e w a s a n of broadly neoliberal reforms, the Chilean
implicit notion that a ``via campesina'' or government gave only limited support to an
peasant path based on intensified, agrarian emerging sector of medium-sized capitalist based
rural livelihoods was still a possible and family farms and invested little or nothing in
conceivable development option (Figueroa, the peasant economy (Berdegue , 1990; Kay,
1990; Brush and Turner, 1987). By the early 1997). Support to this sector became largely the
and mid-1990s there had been a shift of preserve of nongovernment organizations emphasis,
apparently reflecting changes in both (NGOs). At the same time, the medium and policy and
mood. The policy shift is that of large farm sector began to thrive—with certain neoliberal
economic reforms. These have crisis periods, as in the early 1980s—laying the prompted
work on the impacts of these reforms ground for the oft-heralded miracle of Chilean
agricultural transformation. By the time an their mix of activities (Kay, 1997). The no-
elected government came to power in 1990, viables would instead receive other types of
any idea of programs of asset (primarily land) support (from ministries other than agriculture)
redistribution had already been ruled out that would ultimately aim to enhance their
during the discussions of the pretransition potential to become a productive proletariat
agrarian commissions of the opposition parties. (though this language was not necessarily that Instead,
the new government opted to extend which was used). 9
p ro grams o f t ech n i cal, cred i t and o t h er This notion of viability has subsequently
support, so that they would now reach the spread through Latin America, and not least
Chilean campesino—indeed the coverage of into the Andean countries. This ''diffusion of a
these programs has increased significantl y discourse'' is partl y due to the adoption of
(Berdegue et al., 1998). macroeconomic and agricultural policy frame-
The programs however, were being extended works to a greater or lesser extent based on the
within an overall context of continued neolib - Chilean experience. It also reflects the
influence eral economic policy and fiscal stringency. of the principal agencies financing these
policy Soon, then—and within the context of an often transitions —agencies that have been
signifi-tense relationship between a Ministry of Agri - cantly influenced by the Chilean case,
and culture wanting to invest in the sector, and a whose broader concerns for fiscal efficiency
jibe Ministry of Finance wanting to limit such we ll with the notion that rural productive
investment if it could not be shown as profit - investments should be very strategically targe -
able—a language emerged that began to ted to areas where there is the potential for
differentiate among so-called viable and enhanced productivity. Thus, for instance, an
nonviable peasants (los viables and los no- Inter-American Development Bank report on
viables). The argument was that a large part of social and economic development in Bolivia
the Chilean peasantry (some suggested 50%: was able to ask: ''Is Bolivia viable?'' The report
Sotomayor, 1994) were not viable—the defini- paraphrases the conversation that ensued tion
of nonviability being based largely on the among the team: ''The reply came without land and
water assets that they controlled question: 'It has to be viable.' Later the ques -(Namdar-Irani
and Quezada, 1994, cited in tion was recast 'Is the altiplano viable?' This
Kay, 1997). With such limited assets, it was time there was discussion and the eventual argued
that they could not conceivably become reply was more nuanced: 'In some areas, yes' ''
competitive production units capable of accu- (IDB, 1996, p. 79).
mulating capital. As they were not viable, the Beyond this policy context, discussions of
argument continued, these peasants should not viability are themselves also a direct conse -
be the object of programs aimed at enhancing quence of the very disappointing effects that
their productive capacity but rather ought be rural development programs h ave had in
supported through social investment programs ostensibly low -potential areas, such as much
of that would alleviate their poverty and ulti- the higher Andes (Zoomers, 1998; VMPPFM-
mately facilitate their transition out of agri- Banco Mundial, 1998). ''Looking back over the
culture and into the urban economy. Others history of international cooperation in the were
yet more drastic, arguing that for most Bolivian Andes, one theme is constantly peasants,
the money spent on programs of dominant: disapp ointment with the results of technical and
credit support would have a far rural development programs'' (van Niekerk, greater impact
on rural poverty if spent on 1997, p. 2). In the light of these experiences education (Lo pez,
1995). While the government and his own studies of the impacts of NGO did not take on
board these more radical interventions in the Peruvian and Bolivian
interpretations, policy toward the small farm Andes, van Niekerk (1994, p. 319) himself sector
nonetheless became one of promoting comes to the conclusion that: ''If the market is so -called
reconversi n or productive transfor- the determining factor in the definition of rural mation
(Kay, 1997). This reconversi n involves policy, Andean agriculture has two possibili-
investment in the productive potential of those ties: to disappear, or to modernize violently to
units deemed potentially viable (according to achieve competitive levels of productivity and
the land and other natural resources to which production.''—in short, the two prongs of they
had access), in order to facilitate their Chilean reconversi n. Van Niekerk goes on to
transformation into competitive capitalist suggest that neither of these options is likely in
family farms by increasing their yields and/or Bolivia and Peru today given the limits on
public investment and the inability of the urban able and more poverty alleviating (the two are
economy to absorb migrants; consequently, he not necessarily the same). If a framework can
says, the likely scenario is one of an `ìmpossi- be built that helps capture this, then this may
ble'' situation in which the peasantry continues help guide interventions, as well as offer a to
limp along, caught between migration and common language for analyzing the diverse low -
productivity agriculture. types of livelihood transition that are occurring
in the region.
(b) Peasant viability and rural livelihood Indeed, a quick review of Andean experi-
transitions in the Andes ences suggests that while the notion of agri-
cultural crisis may be real in a number of cases,
While these discussions might seem despair- there are also instances of agricultural intensi-
ing, it is important to note two things. First, fication, or other types of livelihood transition
that within the general context of crisis, there that may offer elements of sustainable alterna-
are areas where people have turned things tives. The following looks at several of these
around, and where processes of agrarian transitions.
accumulation have occurred in the campesino
sector (Lehmann, 1986; Bebbington, 1997; (i) Capitalized family farms and agro-
North and Cameron, 1998). Second, it is silvipastoral transitions
important not to equate agrarian livelihoods Important insights into the possibilities for
with rural livelihoods. While many agrarian improved rural livelihoods have come from a
livelihoods might be in crisis, there may be body of work influenced more by Chayanovian
other rural livelihood options emerging that and Boserupian theories of peasant economy also
address households ' material and human than by more marxian positions (e.g., Netting, needs.
This distinction is also politically 1981, 1993; Turner and Brush, 1987). In the important to
make because the peasant Andes, an early empirical conc ern of work nonviability argument is
often closely linked to from this perspective was the rise of the so -the idea that policy ought
help people leave the called ``capitalized family farms'' or CFFs — land, and move to urban
areas. Yet, if it can be farms which constituted successful cases of shown that rural families
are able to put accumulation and intensification in the house -together livelihoods that are less
precarious hold peasant economy (Lehmann, 1986; than those suggested by van Niekerk
(1994), Llambi, 1989). These were farms that emerged elements of the notion of nonviability
might be from the medium-sized peasantry rather than accepted without having to argue for
perma- the very poorest—and in that sense were the
nent outmigration and loss of land. This empirical precursor to the notion of ``viable''
argument is particularly critical to make in the units. Though understudied in the literature
case of indigenous groups for whom rural given its primary concern to analyze expropri -
residence and relationship to land constitute ation and poverty—some commentators important
dimensions of their ethnic identity suggest that they are actually quite widespread (Salomon,
1979; Korovkin, 1997): an identity in the Andes, and an important source of rural whose
maintenance may, beyond any material employment and of accumulation (Llambi, measure, be a
critical determinant of their sense 1989). Common to the success of many of these
of being poor or not (see below). CFFs have been: an ability to access land,
This implies shifting our lens somewhat, and finance and at times labor; an ability to gain a
looking less at agriculture per se and instead niche in higher value product markets; and the
focusing attention on the types of resource, presence of different types of supportive state
institutional sphere and market type that policy. Migration (often interpreted as an families
have accessed in the course of indicator of non -viability) has frequently composing
sustainable, non-agricultural rural played a role in generating funds for land livelihoods.
This then makes it important to purchase. These CFFs also seem more likely to look in more
detail at the varying types of emerge where large farms began to subdivide livel ihood
strategy that are emerging in the their property early in the century, or in more Andes, in
order to understand the types of originally egalitarian agrarian structures (such resource
access, capability enhancement (cf. as areas of colonization) where there was less Sen, 1997)
and political economic factors upon likelihood of larger farms having appropriated which
they have been based, and the conditions all land and thus having kept a lid on land under
which they may become more sustain- markets (Lehmann, 1986).
Subsequent work began to suggest that (iii) Migration

similar styles of intensification were apparently Where agricultural intensification has been
possible for small producers also. While access limited, and other rural employment absent,
to resources for the CFFs had been mainly the principal livelihood adaptation has been
through the market, state and kin networks, for temporary or permanent migration. Indeed, the
small producers, more formal—and relatively Andes is full of projects that have attempted
strong—forms of organization along with and failed —to stop this out-migration. In part
external support have generally been more this is because migration has been an element of
critical in opening access to knowledge, credit, Andean livelihood strategies for a long time;
irrigation, technical assistance and new markets but it is also because migration is critical to
the (Bebbington, 1997; North, and Cameron, 1998; viability of rural peoples ' livelihoods
(Preston, Hinojosa, 1998; Sinergia, 1998; Perreault, 1997). Migration is often, of course,
merely a Bebbington and Carroll, 1998). In the cases of survival strategy —in many contexts
families contract farming, the intermediation of scarcely scrape by, and the cost to the migrant
commercial actors has been important in is enormous (Chambers, 1987; Bebbington, widening
this access, albeit at considerable cost 1993). But in some cases migration has allowed for
peasant autonomy (Korovkin, 1992). Thus, significant family accumulation. Talking of the
while elements of the transition and resources special, but by no means unique, 10 case of
accessed were similar to those of the CFFs, the international migration in Can ar, Ecuador,
mechanism of access differed in the case of Jokisch (1998) comments on the ways in which
small farmers, with intermediary organizations migrants ' remittances from the United States
of state, market and civil society playing allow the rest of t heir families not only to keep
important roles. living in communities, but also to combine
subsistence agriculture with a remarkable
(ii) Rural proletarianization improvement of housing conditions. While
The presence of nonviable agricultural units rural investment in housing as opposed to
has not necessarily led to the end of rural productive activities might be considered far
livelihoods. A significant feature of some from ideal and be a result of a continuing regional
economies has been the growth of a absence of financial institutions or asset and rural
proletariat working on capitalist agricul- product markets in rural areas, as much as a tural
enterprises. The rise of fruit production in cultural preference, it is nonetheless a measure
Chile brought particular attention to this of accum ulation. It is therefore informative to
phenomenon (Gwynne, 1997), but elsewhere look at cases where migration has gone the
emergence of strong nontraditional agri-, beyond a survival strategy and has become flori -
and horticultural sectors has similarly p art of an accumulation strategy (either in the given
rise to rural work forces elsewhere: such form of housing or productive investment), in
workers are sometimes urban based, and in order to understand how this has been possi -other
cases are members of peasant families ble. In these as well as other less extreme cases
(Korovkin, 1997). In many cases, this prole- (Preston, 1998), it appears that a successful
tarianization does not lead to more sustainable sustainable rural livelihood strategy that
livelihoods, especially when wages are low and combines migration with subsistence produc -
health hazards high as a result of the use of tion at home and continued control over land
agrochemicals in such enterprises (Stewart, revolves around having the skills to ent er 1996).
Such jobs however, can at times resolve higher paid labor markets in urban areas, and the
rural residence/making a living dilemma, having the social networks to gain access to
enabling people to stay in their communities work opportunities.
through the complementary income coming from
being a laborer in nearby agroenterprises (iv) Rural industry
(Korovkin, 1997). Thus, rather than instinc - In some areas rural industry has emerged and
tively criticize this option, it may be more afforded other rurally-based livelihood options.
appropriate to find ways of improving its The rise of apparel, leather and shoe-making
contribution to livelihood sustainability. This industries in Tungurahua, Ecuador, for may
involve pressuring (or legislating) for instance, has allowed families to combine greater
workplace security and control of home-based work in these industries with health
hazards, support to workplace organi - agriculture (Martinez, 1994). The impacts on zation,
special skills training and so on. rural income and health have been significant
(North and Cameron, 1998). The textile increasingly they have very significant industry has
also come to dominate the rural nonagrarian components (cf. Ellis, 1998). economy and rural
livelihoods in many Across this diversity, however, one can detect commu nities in northern
Ecuador, where rela- common themes in those instances where there tively high value
products have been made over has been some success in composing a viable a long period of
time (Salomon, 1981). Though livelihood. These themes revolve a round issues this has led to
social differentiation, it has also of access: more viable rural livelihoods appear allowed
continued rural residence in areas of to be characterized by a relative success on the quite
advanced land fragmentation. To be able part of households and their members to to engage in
such livelihoods, families need the sustain or increase their access to:
skill to do the work required (a human capital different resources, such as credit, land,
issue) and the access to the intermediating skills, labor etc. depending on which of them
agent (industrialists, traders, organizers of are most relevant to the type of livelihood
production networks) that links rural families that people are composing. It is to be noted,
to wider markets and chains of production. In though, that in some cases people sacrifice
particular, it seems that links to higher-value one or another of these assets (especially land
market s are i mp o rt an t , and mo re ab l e t o quality) in order to build up another as-set
withstand the effects of structural adjustment base more appropriate for their overall
policy (North and Cameron, 1998). livelihood strategy;
different opportunities to turn those re-
(v) Rural and peri-urban commerce sources into sources of livelihood enhance-
Other groups in the Andes have been able to ment (e.g., by accessing new labor and
build rural livelihoods around commerce. In product markets);
some cases this may mean a member of the means of enhancing the existing ways in
family leaving for significant parts of the year, or which those resources contribute to their
permanently, in order to peddle products livelihoods (e.g., by obtaining better terms in
elsewhere, as in the case of the Colta region of transactions through a renegotiation of the
Ecuador (Gellner, 1982; Tolen, 1995). Indeed, power relations that underlie those trans-
Colta is remarkable: in the midst of an obvi- actions; cf. Ribot, 1998); and
ously sad agrarian landscape one encounters kin and ethnic networks, social organiza-
two and three story cinder block, painted tions, intermediate state and nongovernmen-
houses the result of accumulation from trad-ing tal organizations, and intermediary market
elsewhere. These houses allow the rest of the actors. Access to such institutions and rela-
family to remain in rural areas, or allow the tionships has been important in securing
family to come ``home'' periodically, and ulti- the three other types of access.
mately to retire. In other cases, the commerce is
Conversely, where rural people have not been
in nearby urban settlements as in the case of able to improve their livelihoods, the principal
A yacu cho wh ere in un der fou r years p eri - reasons seem to deri ve fro m a failure o r
urban/semi-rural women have been able to inability to: defend their existing assets; accumulate12
over 1 US$ million of savings in identify and secure opportunities to turn assets village banks
through their trade activities in into livelihoods; or protect existing ways of Ayacucho city (D.
Bebbington, 1999). 11 In yet turning assets into livelihoods (e.g., by losing a other cases, it is
linked to contraband at inter- place in a market). An important factor in such national border
areas (e.g., Puerto Acosta, failures to counter the forces that create Bolivia). Critical to these
cases, it seems, are: poverty has been the limited ability of people to the access to initial capita l
(often in very small build up, and to draw upon, networks and links quantities) to begin
trading, an access often with state, market or civil society actors that mediated through a
micro-financial services would otherwise have helped them access,
organization; and involvement in networks that defend and capitalize on their assets.
facilitate access to markets (Woolcock, 1998). If we were, then, to build a framework for
analyzing poverty reducing rural livelihoods, at
(c) Elements of a framework: access to capitals a minimu m it would need to address: the
and spheres of access diverse assets that rural p eople draw
on in building livelihoods;
The ways in which people compose rural the ways in which people are able to ac-
livelihoods in the Andes are multiple and cess, defend and sustain these assets; and
the abilities of people to transform those the channels through which development
assets into income, dignity, power and intervention occurs.
sustainability: or in other words, to trans-
By phrasing the issue in this way, we can
form them into conceptualize sustainable rural livelihoods in
 consumption levels that reduce their pov- terms of recent debates on access to resources
erty; (Berry, 1989; Blaikie, 1989), asset vulnerability
 living conditions that imply an improved (Moser, 1998), and entitlements (Sen, 1981), and
quality of life according to people ' s own in such a way as to extend recent attempts to
criteria; develop such a conception (Chambers, 1989;
 human and social capabilities to use and Moser, 1998; Leach, Mearns and Scoones,
defend assets ever more effectively; and 1998). The suggestion is that one part of a useful
 an asset base that will continue to allow heuristic framework (see Figure 1) would
the same sorts of transformations. conceive of livelihoods and the enhancement of
Ideally, the framework should also be human well -being in terms of different types of
conceived in such a way that reaches across capital (natural, produced, human, social and
scales of analysis, in two ways in particular. It cultural) that are at once the resources (or
should help us address the relationships inputs) that make livelihood s trategies possible,
between intrahousehold, household, regional the assets that give people capability, and the
and macro economies; and it should incorpo- outputs that1 3make livelihoods meaningful and
rate the relationships that households have with viable. The second part of this framework
institutions and organizations that operate at (Figure 2) focuses on household and intra -
wider scales, and which in general constitute household level forms of engagement with
Figure 1. Assets, livelihoods and poverty.

Figure 2. Relationships of resource access, use and transformation.
market, state and civil society actors and rela- As the World Bank was fashioning this
tionships, and the implications of these engage- statement, however, it and other agencies— ments
for the distribution and transformation of under the pressure of lobby groups and its own assets.
We now turn to this framework.
experience—increasingly came to recognize
some of the adverse environmental impacts of
growth. 16 Thus, claim Serageldin and Steer, the
3. WIDENING THE LENS: notion of natural capital began to take a place,
SUSTAINABILITY AND CAPITAL albeit subsidiary, alongside those of human and
ASSETS produced capital. Then finally, since Putnam's
(1993) study of civic traditions, democracy and
In a short paper Serageldin and Steer (1994) regional development in Italy, one more
suggested that we could think of sustainable ``capital'' has been added (with more
development in terms of patterns in the accu- rapidity than conceptual clarity) to this grow-
mulation of and substitution among four ing list of capitals: social capital. Putnam different
types of capital (see also World Bank, suggested that the critical factor in explaining 1996).
They argued that for a long while, regional differences in government effectiveness
dominant notions (in the World Bank, but also and economic performance was to be found in
beyond) had equated development with corresponding regional differences in social
economic growth; hence the only indicator of structures and networks. In areas where social
interest to development planners (and Banks) structures are more ``vertical'' and based on
had been expansion of produced capital. 14 authority relations, then citizen capacity for
Subsequently, human capital was also recog- collective action is limited, and access to and
nized as critical to development and poverty influence over state and market are far weaker.
alleviation. The 1990 World Development Conversely, he argued, those areas with more
Report (WDR) thus argued that development efficient, effective and inclusive governments
(seen through the lens of poverty reduction) and economies were characterized by more ought
be pursued through a joint strategy of ``horizontal'' social relationships (based on fost ering
macroeconomic growth and investing trust and shared values), and higher levels of heavily in
people (above all in education). 15 participation in social organizations and
networks that cut across the boundaries between apparently thinking of a sort of extended
different institutions and social groups. These production function in which ``development''
endowments he termed social capital. (ultimately measured by income or expenditure:
If this was so, argued Serageldin and Steer, Knack and Keefer, 1997; Grootaert, 1997) is a
then sustainable development could be thought function of produced capital assets, human of in
terms of changes in the overall stock of capital assets, natural capital assets, and social these
four types of capital, and the changing capital assets. While this may be a helpful composition
of this stock. If ``development'' starting point, if such a framework is to engage implied an
overall increase in the capital stock, other writing on poverty, livelihoods and the relative
``sustainability'' (and indeed qual- development and link it to discussions of via-ity) of that
development depended on the bility, it can only be part of our understanding. substitutions that
occurred among the types of The following subsections suggest elements of capital. They then
go on to describe four types such an elaboration around notions of: or levels of sustainability in
terms of these four geographic scale; livelihoods and poverty; place types of capital, and
though we can argue with and cultural capital; assets and capabilities; and the very value -laden
terms they use to describe access.
four types of sustainability, they catch much of
the debate about styles of types of develop-
ment—for much argument about development 4. EXTENDING THE SCALE: CAPITAL
is about the ``level'' of sustainability to which ASSETS, QUALITY OF LIFE AND
different groups aspire. 17 HUMAN CAPABILITY
Such a framework draws on ideas derived
from early experiences in environmental (a) Livelihoods, regional economy and national
accounting (cf. Barbier, 1994; World Bank, accounts: assets, scale and justice
1997) that have aimed to include measures of
change in natural capital in national accounts While Serageldin and Steer apparently cast
to give a fuller sense of the environmental their framework at the level of the macro-
costs hidden in certain measures of growth. economy, it can equally be applied to regional
The hope, clearly, is to extend such analysis by economies. Indeed, if it were then possible to
developing measures of social capital that develop a suite of indicators for each of the
could also be included in national accounts and different assets at these different scales, it might
ulti-mately models that could determine the be possible to suggest not only the tradeoffs
contributions of different types of capital to between different types of capital at a macro
growth or poverty alleviation (cf. Grootaert, level, but also the different forms that these
1997). tradeoffs take across regions. This might allow a
Of course, the task of identifying viable (and framework for linking macrodevelopment
agreed upon) indicators of social (and natural) choices with analyses of social, geographical
capital is Herculean. Nonetheless, if only as a and environmental justice. It would be possible
heuristic, the framework is a potentially to talk about how patterns of asset growth and
intriguing way of making explicit the tradeoffs loss resulting from particular policies vary
between economic growth, human develop- across peoples and places and indeed across
ment, social integration and environmental groups within households.
integrity that are implied by different develop- Household and individual livelihood strate-
ment options. Indeed, we could talk of styles of gies might also be thought of in terms of
access development which opt for different mixes of to these types of capital (Bebbington,
Kopp and degrees of substitution among the different and Rubinoff, 1997; Scoones, 1998; cf.
Moser, types of capital: not only as inputs to devel- 1998). As the Andean examples discussed
opment, but indeed as the outputs that give earlier all suggest, Andean livelihoods now
both meaning and resources to people. depend on a very wide range of assets, in some
This final point opens up a number of ways cases more natural resource related, in other
in which this framework can be elaborated. cases more human resource related, and in
Serageldin and Steer (1994) are clearly thinking most cases, social capital related. The
principal of national development accounts as they assets that people draw upon in building
their elaborate their framework. Furthermore, livelihoods thus vary across space and also
they—and those who have elaborated the across different social, gender and ethnic
framework inside the World Bank—are groups. If this is so, it becomes important to
have a clearer sense of the most important These different assets also clearly interact as
assets for different people in different places in people use and transform them in their liveli -
order to identify the most useful (and most hood strategies. On the one hand there are
damaging) sorts of public investment in such interactions within each type of asset: certain
areas. forms of human capital, for instance, will have
As a simple, but significant example: many more mutual synergy than others. At the same
projects in the high Andes have aimed to time, each asset clearly interacts with the address
poverty by working with agricultural others. Such interactions may be synergistic —
technology, erosion control methods and other as in the case of womens' adult literacy
interventions related directly or indirectly to programs around which groups formed which
livelihoods based on natural resources. Yet undertook village banking
oftentimes the families with whom they have activities. 19 Interactions may also be destruc-
aimed to work have depended primarily on tive: as when investments of financial capital
migrant remittances for their livelihoods rather have detrimental influences on environmental
than on agricultural income. If this is so, then and social quality; or where financial capital is
other types of support would have been far produced in ways that undermines social capi -
more appropriate. The hypothetical range of tal (e.g., fostering growing anomie, or vio -
options here is obviously wide. Some options lence), weakening the social networks through
would emphasize investment in human capital which people access resources of various more
than produced or natural capital, for types. 20 In this sense, the separation between instance:
training so that people are able to the inputs and outputs of a livelihood strategy secure better
and healthier jobs in the urban is only artificial: the environment that an labor market;
improved health care to increase income earning strategy helps build (or destroy) migrants'
resilience to environmental stresses; and the social networks it helps create (or investment in
education and nursery schools to weaken), in turn affect any subsequent income increase
children's long term capabilities; etc. earning activity.
Other options might emphasize investments in If it were possible to map out the different
social capital as more appropriate. Social assets that people draw upon in their liveli -capital
might, for instance, facilitate increased hoods, then this would help improve the effec -
income for migrants, more rapid and safer tiveness and relevance of publ ic investment. At
transfers of remittances to rural areas, or more the same time, though, rural peoples' liveli -
productive use of remittances once transferred hoods may be shifting because they are losing
to rural areas. In the first case, strengthening ac cess to certain assets as a result of either
networks and institutions for accessing and ecological processes (e.g., demographic sharing
information among migrants on labor increase) or macroeconomic policies and the and petty
trade markets might be appropriate, economic strategies of other actors. Thus, it is as might
strengthening organizations that critical—as Yapa (1998) rightly insists—not to demand
work safety for casual labor. Creating focus the poverty question only on an assess -
nonformal institutional mechanisms, such as ment of the poor. It is equally important to
money wiring services, for the transfer of relate changing livelihood dynamics among the
resources from urban to rural locations, might poor to the changing assets of other actors.
be an appropriate response to the second People may be migrating more because they
challenge. And third, to foster more have lost access to land, water or forests as a
productive use of remittances in rural areas, consequence of the acquisition of those assets
strengthening rural financial institutions and by other actors —acquisitions that in turn may
village banks might be appropriate means of be promoted by certain policies. Examples
here increasing the return on remittances for are many: a mine opens upstream of the water
depositors, and turning them into credit possi- supply of Andean communities; an intensive
bilities for those wanting to invest in rural flower producer in the Inter -Andean valleys
productive activities (such as agriculture, live - takes water that was previously used by
stock or peri-urban trading etc.). In short, upslope communities; oil wells are sunk in
institutional and human investments largely indigenous hunting and fishing grounds in
unrelated to agriculture and often outside rural Amazonia; etc.. In such cases, rather than
areas might be a more appropriate response to identifying investment in migrant skills as a
agri cu l t u ral s t agn at i on than yet o n e mo re mean s o f i mp ro vi n g ru ral l i vel i h oo d s, a
erosion control or seed improvement project. mapping exercise showing the ways in which
assets controlled by different actors undermine dimensions of poverty (often of course under
assets of poorer groups would instead (or also) conditions of severe constraint). Thus at
suggest it was more important to invest in times, people may decide (again, under great
peoples ' capability to control and defend assets constraint) to live in areas of severe
pollution, (cf. Leach, Mearns and Scoones, 1998), raising violence, or anomie, in order to
earn a living—a the issue of how to invest in social capital decision to suffer enviro nmental
and social instead of human capital (cf. Bebbington, dimensions of poverty in order to meet
imme-1996). diate monetary needs. At other times—more
often in rural areas—people chose to desist
(b) Access, poverty and sustainability: assets as from migration as far as possible in order to be
instrument, assets as meaning in a calmer, cleaner environment closer to
familiar kin, community and religious institu-
The Serageldin and Steer (1994) framework, tions, but at a cost of reduced monetary and
attempts to elaborate it, can justifiably be income. In like vein many livelihood decisions
questioned on the grounds that their implied involve a choice to overconsume a particular
understandings of poverty are largely econo- capital asset at a given moment. This may be
mistic: measured in terms of GDP (Serageldin natural capital (e.g., by overcropping); social
and Steer 1994; Knack and Keefer, 1997) or capital (e.g., b y benefiting from organization/
household income and expenditure depending family/kin networks but not contributing to on
the scale at which they are applied. 21 Yet, them and so not attending to their mainte -poverty
is more than this, and so any notion of nance); produced capital (e.g., by drawing the links
between livelihood sustainability and down on financial savings, or not maintaining rural
poverty must also be wider. Indeed, the the value of savings, such as houses, vehicles, notion
of livelihood in some sense cuts across draught animals); and human capital (e.g., by what
have been perceived as two opposed views sending kids to work rather than school, or by on
the nature of poverty (Baulch, 1996; Moser, moving into work that causes ill health etc.).
1998). At one pole are those approaches to Livelihood strategies are attempts, from exist -
poverty that aim to measure it objectively in ing and often severe constraints, at a continu -
terms of expenditure, income or some other ous management and modificatio n of these
quantitatively defined indicator (Grootaert, substitutions, tradeoffs and draw downs on
Kanbur and Oh, 1997). At the other pole are different capital assets. How these tradeoffs are
the approaches that aim to see poverty through made, and which ones are preferred, vary the
eyes of the poor, arguing that it is as much a across the life cycle, and also across the short
subjective experience as it is an objective state, term. At certain points the resulting strategy
and that participatory research methods offer may seem sustainable, at other points not.
the best means for assessing poverty and The different capitals are thus not only inputs to
capturing what people themselves identify as its livelihoods and development strategies— they are
principal dimensions and indicators (Cham-bers, also their outputs. Thus their changing
1989; Chambers and Conway, 1992). While composition ought be considered not only in
much of the influential writing using the sustainability terms (a la Serageldin2and Steer,
3 Actors at
terminology of livelihoods came from this latter 1994) but also in poverty terms.
school (Chambers, 1989; Chambers and different scales opt to address certain dimen-sions
Conway, 1992; Scoones, 1998), the notion of their poverty, and not others, certain
seems to capture both the objective dimensions dimensions of sustainability and not others. How
of ``having to make a living to get by'' as well as they make this choice depends on what
the subjective dimensions of the conditions in development, poverty and livelihood mean to
which one lives. Income, expenditure and the them, as well as the constraints under which they
experienced quality of life are all somehow make these decisions and the power rela-
22
implicit in the notion of livelihood. t i o n s a t p l a y. W e t h e r e f o r e n e e d t o b e
Elaborating this point, poverty has different concerned not only with the ways in which
dimensions, and up to a point (but only up to a assets are translated into income, but also with
point) Serageldin and Steer's (1994) four capi- their impact on peoples ' sense of their well-be-
tals capture its environmental, income, human ing. In this sense, peoples ' capital assets affect
capital and social dimensions. In their liveli- poverty status and quality of life by affecting hood
strategies, people make certain choices as human experience as well as income. Keeping regards
the substitution between these different this experiential dimension of poverty and
livelihood is thus critical if interventions are to be notion of cultural capital might usefully be
relevant. added to the framework's asset types. This is a
form of capital that will clearly never be
(c) Cultural capital: place, practice, poverty quantified, nor should be: but making its role,
importance and potential loss explicit in
This discussion returns us —partially—to an narrative form remains critical if external
observation made earlier: namely that running notions of poverty are not to be too divorced
through many livelihood strategies in the from rural peoples' conceptions.
Andes is an apparent determination to gain
and/or maintain access to land as part of a (d) Capitals and capabilities: the rural poor as
wider concern to maintain some form of rural 24 agents of change
residence. Residence appears to be associ-
at ed wi th the main ten an ce of a ran ge of The notion that cultural capital is empower-
cultural practices that are valued for their ing raises the critical point that peoples' assets
meaningfulness: participation in fiestas (e.g., are not only a source of sustenance and
Rasnake, 1988), in certain forms of agricultural meaning—they are also a source of power.
labor (Tolen, 1995), in volley ball games on the Indeed, Sen (1997) has recently suggested
communities' court etc. Over and above the jettisoning the terminology of human capital as
meaningfulness of a particular set of assets, overly economistic, referring to the worth of then,
there is a meaningfulness associated with human capital development only in terms of its the
set of cultural practices made possible (or contribution to productivity. Human capital
constrained) by the patterns of co-residence development contributes, he insists, to the and
absence linked to certain livelihood strat - quality of life in many more ways than this: a egies.
This becomes one more (very important, range of ways which he sums up as ``human though
understated) dimension of the meaning capability.'' The ability to read and write, for of
poverty or wealth to rural people themselves. instance, not only enhances people's ability to It
is therefore necessary that analytical frame- secure better jobs and do them more effi-
works are explicit in capturing this on the ciently—it also enhances their ability to engage
`òutput'' side of their understandings of in discussion; to debate; to negotiate; to add
development—particularly given how easily their voice to the multitude of voices influenc-these
practices can be destroyed by intervention ing household, local and national discourses on
and policy. development etc. All these changes improve the
Beyond being simply meaningful, such prac- quality of peoples' lives in ways that simple
tices are, however, also enabling and empow - income, GDP or Human Development Index
ering. They enable forms of action and measures chronicall y underreport.
resistance that the other four types of capital Perhaps more important, Sen argues, is that
would not, alone, make possible. They can also these capabilities enhance people's ability to be
be the basis for the maintenance and enhance- agents of change. They enhance people's ability
ment of each of the other types of capital to question, challenge, propose and ultimately
(Kleymeyer, 1993). Through fostering certain usher in new ways of doing things. This
forms of identity maintenance and particular enhances people's capability to change the rules
patterns of interaction, they enable, inspire and of the development game —a change, which as
indeed empower. They are another important Yapa (1998) and many others remind us, is a
`ìnput'' to livelihood production and poverty sine qua non of genuine poverty alleviating
alleviation. strategies. Thus, in considering measures of
There is, thus, a conjunction between place human capital's impact on development or
and the reproduction of cultural practices that livelihoods, it is important to remember that
are important inputs to and outputs of liveli - they always understate the significance of such
hood strategies. These practices are not the investments.
same as social capital—though they do clearly Sen's comments regarding human capital can
depend on its existence in order to foster the equally be made for social capital. Once again, the
conditions of social organization and spatial Andean examples, and many others, have
propinquity that allow many of these practices. shown how networks and organizations play a Though
adding another capital to an already vital role in helping people act to improve their
growing, and potentially confusing list of livelihoods, mobilize as sets, and defend them.
capitals, such observations imply that the At the same time, they often give fora for
people to discuss, have voice, enjoy interaction, other civil society actors is structured by the
question, debate etc. They thus add to the range of benefits and limits of this form of
quality of life above and beyond their simple action. Thus it is almost certainly the case that
impact on poverty and income indicators, and being effective in enhancing livelihoods requires
are critical in enhancing rural people's capacity competence to m anage relationships and to be
their own agent of change. These points transactions in each of these spheres, taking are
elaborated in the following section. advantage of what can be achieved through one
sphere, and complementing it with actions in
the other spheres.
5. ACCESSING, DEFENDING AND People's ability to gain access to those
TRANSFORMING: CAPITALS, spheres, is in turn greatly affected by the
CAPABILITIES AND SPHERES capabilities they have as a result of their initial
endowments of the different types of capital
Along with the notion of the five capitals, the asset. For instance, people with significant
second element of the framework suggested endowments of land (natural capital) or finan -here
is the familiar trinity of state, market and cial resources (produced capital), or strong civil
society (Figure 2): or more precisely the social networks (social capital) and university
relationships between rural people and other degrees (human capital and social capital) are
actors who operate within these spheres. It is in general better able to gain access to the
through such relationships that people (and institutions of the state and market and thus their
organizations) aim to reassert or renego- influence their subsequent effects on patterns of tiate
the rules (as defined within each of the access —in short they are more powerful. It spheres)
governing access to resources in soci- then becomes interesting to understand the ety: for each
sphere has its own logics 25 influ- conditions under which people with less encing the
distribution, control and endowments may be able to enhance their transformation of assets.
Through these rela- access to the actors operating within these tionships, people also aim to
defend their different spheres, and the ways in which the assets: by investing them in
commercial organizations may begin to act more in favor of markets, by mobilizing civil
society actors to those with fewer assets, and less power. While a protect budgets for rural
education etc. People marxian perspective on class would argue that also act through such
relationships to defend or the distribution of material resources (natural enhance the benefits
they derive from their and produced capital) will determine how the assets by transforming
them. They may do this state and market function, and thus how by selling them, loaning them,
exchanging them questions of access are resolved, here I will or engaging in some form of
transaction that follow those such as Berry (1989), Evans (1996) allows them to enhance the
commodity bundles and Ribot (1998) who suggest—though this is
and income streams that can be derived from certainly not the terminology they all use to
do 2 6 These are also the relationships so —that social and cultural capital can also be
them.
through which people struggle to improve the vitally important in determining access to
`èxchange rates '' that govern this transaction resources. This is important, because it begins
so as to increase the entitlements that their to identify these as critical spheres for inter -
endowments will generate for them—e.g., by vention to take into account if the goal is to
trying to increase the prices paid for forest alter the ways in which st ate and market typi-
products, or by seeking certification for organic cally affect the distribution of assets and the
products. ability of rural people to use them. In closing, I
As each sphere operates according to its own therefore focus on the ways in which social
logic, this sets the limits of what can and cannot capital can enhance access to other actors
be achieved through acting within that sphere governed by the logics of state, market and civil
(Ostrom, 1994). Thus, what can be done to society, and thus affect livelihood sustainability
enhance livelihoods and access to resources by and poverty.
engaging in relationships within the market
sphere is limited by basic commercial logic; (a) Assessing the impacts of social capital: the
what can be done through engaging with the problem of causal mechanisms
state is constrained (and enabled) by the ways
in which the state works; and what can be Social capital belongs to that alarmingly long
achieved by collective action and engaging with list of terms in development that are
notoriously difficult to define, above all in a economic and government performance. 28

commonly agreed upon manner (Harriss and Recent, more detailed, household level work de
Renzio, 1997). In perhaps the most exhaus- however supports Putnam (rather than Knack tive
review discussion of the concept to date, and Keefer) in suggesting a correlation between
Woolcock (1998) defines it as `à broad term membership in organizations and income. On
encompassing the norms and networks facili- the basis of a 5,000 household survey, Narayan
tating collective action for mutual benefit'' and Pritchett (forthcoming) argue that one (p. 155).
This is relatively consistent with the standard deviation in their social capital index definitions
of such originators of the concept as (based on membership of village organizations
Coleman and Bourdieu. It is also akin to and the social inclusivity of those organiza-
Putnam's (1993) definition of the term in the tions) leads to a 20% increase in household
work that propelled the concept to popular expenditure. More interestingly, they argue
fame, though in practice Putnam ``measured'' that the village -level income effects of
aggregate social capital primarily by counting civic household membership in organizations
are organizations. This is significant, because even more significant than the household
although most authors will tell you that what income impacts, suggesting that most of the
they mean by ``social capital'' is networks and income benefits of membership in groups are
norms such as trust, these are notoriously felt collectively rat her than privately. Compar-
difficult to identify and assess, and so much ing data from the states of India, Morris (1998)
work ends up inferring the existence of the comes to similar conclusions, as does early
norms and networks on the basis of actual analysis of on-going household level work in
collective action, generally in the form of Bolivia, Burkina Faso and Indonesia (Groo -
organizations and groups (e.g., Narayan and taert, personal communication).
Pritchett, forthcoming; Bebbington, 1997). These studies identify tantalizing correlations
Social capital thus appears to be a phenomenon between social capital and poverty (albeit only
whose indicators are largely surrogate and in its economic dimension), on the basis of
indirect. 27 Nonetheless, it has touched a nerve, which they infer causal relationships. But in fact
just as the terms sustainable, and livelihood they say little or nothing about the actual causal
have, and in that sense seems to convey to mechanisms at work. Nor do they help us know
`èxperts'' a sense of something very important whether certain types a nd characteristics of
to society. organization and networks are more likely to
Given the difficulties of defining social capi- have positive impacts than others, or whether
tal, and the differing ways in which it is used in impacts can be positive or negative, depending
the literature, we need to be careful before on the status of other contextual factors—as
attributing too much weight to empirical results authors like Woolcock (1998) suggest is very
linking social capital, poverty and livelihoods. probably the case. It is only with this sort of There
is however, a slowly accumulating body information that we can begin to understand the
of evidence that suggests a relationship between more precise ways in which, through its influ-
social capital and poverty, though different ences on both access to resources and to other studies
do not necessarily agree on which actors, social capital affects poverty and liveli-
indicators of social capital best predict this hood: and only with this type of information
relationship. Some of this work has been can more sensitive guidelines for action and conducted at
a macroeconomic level, and finds intervention be inferred.
correlations between national income and social
capital measured as ``trust,'' civic norms and the (b) Social capital and access: the missing
presence of national institutions that are causal mechanism?
effective in protecting property and contract
rights and that in a sense mandate trust and so While survey-based work on social capital has
restrain predatory actions (Knack and Keefer, been more oriented toward showing the
1997). Conversely, this study (of 29 market economic/income effects of social capital rather
economies) finds no relationship between per than the mechanisms through which these
capita income and level of associational activ- effects occur, more ethnographic work has
ity, and thus stands in contrast with Putnam's tended to focus on causal mechanisms without
(1993) work that identified membership in civic necessarily showing that these have in fact
associations as the critical indicator of social affected rural peoples' poverty (e.g., Fox, 1996).
capital and as directly causal of improved Nonetheless, this work is instructive because it
does suggest ways in which social capital possibility of saving, this form of collective
apparently facilitates forms of action that one action facilitates an accumulation of produced
would expect enhance peoples' livelihoods. In capital, and through this a more effective
general, these actions can be understood as participation in certain markets. Too little is yet
enhancing people's ability to access and defend known, though, about the final livelihood (and
resources, transform them into income, and access distributive) impacts of this.
institutions and organizations in the spheres of Moving up a level, other work has demon-
market, state and civil society in such a way as to strated the importance of strong regional
facilitate resource access, defense and organizations with networks linking them to
transformation. Importantly, this can happen other civil society and government actors.
through actions either of rural people or of These can play important roles in preventing
external organizations: from the inside out, and other actors from expropriating natural
from the outside in (cf. Woolcock, 1998). resources (such as forests or intellectual prop-
erty), in facilitating access to other types of
(i) Social capital and widening access from the investment (e.g., in education, health) by
inside out demanding and/or managing such programs,
Most of the work on social capital empha- and in gaining a more permanent presence in
sizes the different ways in which social rela- certain rule defining and decision making fora
tionships can be mobilized from within civil in the state and in civil society (Fox, 1990;
society to manage resources of various types Bebbington, 1996). Similarly, strong organiza-
and to engage with other actors. We can tions with networks linking them to other
organize this work around the notion of market actors can help open up market possi -
accessing, claim making, defending and trans- bilities to rural producers that otherwise they
forming assets. Some of this work has demon- would not have, and can in this way increase
strated clearly how certain types of community- their ability to turn their assets (of whatever
level relationships—often ones based on shared type) into income streams (North and Came -
cultural identity, frequent confrontations with ron, 1998; Bebbington, 1997). In some Andean
other groups, shared experience of discrimina- cases, these networks have subsequently tion
and strong intragroup communication become part of the local state (Bebbington and (Portes,
cited in Woolcock, 1998; also Durston, Perreault, 1999), and thus been able to influ -1998)—
can play important roles in facilitating ence—however marginally—the regulation of member
access to local resources of various resource control and of local markets (thus types.
Similarly, as Katz (forthcoming) shows influencing the benefits to be derived by rural for
Guatemala, such relations can secure and people as they transform their assets through defend
private as well as group natural resource market exchanges). Also at the supracommunal
property rights, and thus protect those resour- level, networks of far less formalized relation -
ces from other users. They can also lead to ships have played an important role in estab -
more efficient use of resources, through foster- lishing and sustaining alternative,
ing coordinated action (as in the case of water: nonagricultural forms of economic activity.
Lam, 1996). This is not to say that such rela - The rise of a rural weaving industry in North -
tionships are always or even usually the norm ern Ecuador, or of the g arments and leather in
communities (Leach, Mearns and Scoones, sectors in central Ecuador, demonstrate the 1998;
McCay and Jentoft, 1998); their potential importance of these networks in organizing
effects, though make it important to understand product ion, and allowing people to become
how such relationships come into being. involved in these activities and market spheres
Also at the local level, networks of trust and (Ramo n, 1988; Martinez, 1994).
mutual accountability linking individuals in Finally at the national level, especially strong
communities (not usually all the community) social capital, in the form of regional and are
critical in helping break the problem of national organizations and their links to access to
financial capital. They have been the government officials, can be a mechanism basis of
successful, self-sustaining and often through which rural people are able, collec -growing
forms of local banking (indeed, tively, to have an influence on the overall rules Putnam,
1993, uses rotating savings and credit governing the distribution of public investment
associations as his principal analogy to of various types, and the defense and use of
demonstrate the nature of social capital). In natural capital (Fox, 1996; Bebbington and this
way, by facilitating access to credit and the Perreault, 1999).
(ii) Social capital and widening access from the relationship between society and the state, and
outside in that embed the state more deeply in networks
As Tendler (1997) notes, most of the work and types of relationships through which soci-
on ``top-down'' institutions has been critical ety can hold it to account, can be built from the
almost by definition. Yet recent work has side of government in the process of providing
shown how under certain conditions govern- critical livelihood related services. These rela-
ment actors have been able to widen resource tionships then have the potential to become
access and control in rural areas, through mechanisms through which people can access
processes that might be thought of as building additional and different assets, o r call on the
social capital. In most cases, this has occurred state to defend those that they have.
in the context of service provision (Ostrom,
1996; Tendler, 1997). In some instances, (iii) Social capital, rights and social control
government has been able to build synergistic That state agencies and actors will respond in
relationships with local organizations that these constructive ways, or that efforts at
increase the quality and coverage of the provi- popular organization will not meet with
sion of services, in turn enhancing family repression, violence or exclusion rather than
assets—particularly human capital and increased government responsiveness, is of produced
capital assets. In the process, these course far from certain: indeed, it is often far initiatives
also build up their social capital from even being likely. This is important, for
assets to the extent that the collaborative rela- Putnam' s—and other—discussions of social
tionship built between government and social capital often understate the ``rawer '' questions
organization persists and facilitates other forms of political economy and violence. Indeed,
one of collaboration and engagement. In other of the most critical ``resources'' that people
cases, government agencies—or more accu- need to access is the legalization and continuing
rately key, pro-poor individuals inside the recognition by government, military and soci -
agencies—have helped build up civil society ety of rights of organization and association.
organizations, enhancing their capacities to Without these, struggles for access are quite
coordinate with, or exercise pressure on, likely to be unsuccessful and, indeed, repressed.
government and other organizations in the How such laws and mechanisms of enforce-
pursuit or defense of access (Fox, 1996). ment might be created, and then sustained, is
These synergistic relationships, while usually well beyond the scope of this paper. Still, the
with formal organizations, can also be with less social capital discussion draws attention to
formal networks built up largely as a result of some of the issues at stake, suggesting that the
the government 's action. Tendler and Freed- extent to which such rights will be respected and
heim (1994) show how a preventive health protected will depend greatly on how the state
program in the state of Ceara in Brazil was and its various institutions are embedded in
turned around through a concerted effort on the society (cf. Evans, 1995), as wel l as how far
part of government—again at the initiative of networks within a ``global civil society'' are able
key, critically placed individuals—to develop to monitor and so influence the behavior of such
networks linking it to rural and urban particular states and their agencies (cf. Hyden, dwellers.
The result was a 36% decline in infant 1997). The implication is that the more death rates, a
tripling of vaccination rates and a embedded these institutions are in networks greatly enhanced
capacity and functioning linking them to pro-human rights and pro-poor presence of
government health centers in almost actors in society, and the more subject they are all the
state's 178 municipios. (Tendler, 1997, to global scrutiny by actors with similar pp. 21±22).
This occurred as a consequence of concerns, the less likely they are to be repressive, state
efforts to increase the legitimacy of the and the more likely they are to be constructive. health
service on the one hand, to widen its This then makes it important for such pro -poor points of
contacts with communities, and finally and human rights groups in society to to create among
Ceara 's citizens an expectation develop—somehow—the types of relationships of good
service—and thus a constituency that that can embed and monitor the state. Impor-could
exercise some social control in demanding tantly, this will be a geographical process: thus,
good service through the now widened web of even if national institutions are in some sense
contacts linking it to the government program. embedded in this way, their more local arms
Thus under certain conditions, forms of may not be, and so may still repress, or simply social
capital that improve the collaborative not be responsive to popular pressures (Fox,
1990). While a range of other factors, such as account for them in terms of: people's access
to bureaucratic and professional culture and five types of capital asset; the ways in which
values (cf. Evans, 1995) also influence how the people combine and tran sform those assets
in state's apparatus responds to pressure and the building of livelihoods that as far as possi -
social organization, the building of local, ble meet their material and their experiential
national and global networks that embed the ne eds; the ways in which they are able to state is
important in creating conditions that expand their asset bases through engaging with continue
to allow for processes of social orga- other actors through relationships governed by nization
among the popular sectors. the logics of the state, market and civil society;
and the ways in which they are able to deploy
and enhance their capabilities both to make
6. CONCLUSION living more meaningful, but also more impor-
tantly to change the dominant rules and rela-
Though useful, because hard-headed, the tionships governing the ways in which
discussion of campesino viability in the Andes resources are controlled, distributed and
makes three errors I wish to emphasize here. transformed into income streams.
First, it tends to conflate agrarian with rural Within this broader framework, particular
livelihoods, thus deflecting attention from the attention has been placed on one of the five
myriad transitions that have occurred in the assets identified as constitutive of livelihood
ways through which people make a living, and strategies: social capital. This is for several
the diverse assets they draw upon in the reasons. First, to the extent that access to
process. Second, it implies (even if this is not resources and other actors is the most critical
asset that rural people need in order to build
the intent) that rural people assess livelihood
options (and thus their poverty status) accord- sustainable livelihoods, then people's endow-
ing to income criteria, whereas the evidence ments of social capital are vital to their well -
suggests that other criteria are equally mean - being. Social capital inheres in the types of
ingful to rural people, in particular the main - relationship that allow access, and is thus a
tenance of cultural and social practices that critical precursor to access being possible.
accompany rural residence.
29
Third it implies Second, of these different capital assets, social
(again even if this is not the intent) a sort of capital is probably the least tangible and so the
impermeable barrier between los viables, and one that is least understood. The paper there-los
no-viables--yet much of the work on access fore paid some attention to elaborating possible to
resources, and in particular on social capital, elements of its role in livelihoods and poverty
suggests that this barrier is both permeable and alleviation. While the mechanisms for building
movable. Just as Evans (1995) argued that and protecting human, produced and natural forms of
state-business interaction can create capital are clearer, the processes through which industrial
viability in East Asia, so too certain social capital is constructed are little under -
forms of state-civil society-market-campesino stood, though more is certainly known about
interaction can create rural viability. how it is destroyed. How social capital can be
The framework suggested here derives from constructed so as to enhance the quality and
these critical reflections on the viability debate. sustainability of livelihoods thus merits much Our
analyses of rural livelihoods need to more attention. That, though, is another paper.
NOTES
1. It ought be noted, though, that the `ènvironmental 3. `Àssets'' are thus resources that have been accessed,
entitlements '' framework of Leach, Mearns and though in practice the paper uses the terms `àsset'' and
Scoones. (1998) is designed for analyzing community ``resource'' interchangeably. It does not, though, use
based sustainable development programs, rather than ``resource'' only to refer to natural resources.
livelihoods.
4. By ``hermeneutic,'' I am referring to those
approaches which emphasize that, for any advance of
2. This ``shift,'' however, may be more apparent than knowledge, and indeed for any act of society building, it
real. Pollard (1997) argues that in Europe livelihoods in is important to understand the meanings ascribed and
marginal areas were always diversified. conveyed by different people.
5. Leach, Mearns and Scoones (1998, p. 93) appear to sition; ``sensible'' sustainability.. maintaining total stock
touch on this observation, but do not develop it. intact, and avoiding depletion of any particular capital
stock beyond critical levels, which—since we do not
6. Hence the title of the paper—``Capitals and Capa- know what these critical levels are—should be defined
bilities.'' conservatively and monitored very carefully; ``strong''
sustainability.. maintaining each component of capital
7. The terms peasant and campesino are used inter- intact—meaning that if natural capital is destroyed in
changeably in the text. one place, it should be replaced by cultivated natural
capital in other places (e.g., as in carbon sequestration
initiatives); and `àbsurdly strong'' sustainability.. in
8. The terms in Spanish are viables and no-viables.
which no capital stock can be depleted at all, meaning
no non-renewable resources could be used (Serageldin
9. It is also recognized that a number of the units currentlyand Steer, 1994, pp. 31±32).
deemed viable may ultimately not be, as they may never
become sufficiently competitive units to survive 18. Indeed, some financial services NGOs such as
the progressive integration of Chile into free trade areas IFOCC in Peru have experimented with this service as a
such as Mercosur and Nafta (Kay, 1997)—an important less orthodox complement to the more common services
point, because it shows that viability is a shifting state, they provide, such as credit and savings.
depending on market access and relationships.
19. I am thinking of the program Yuyay Jap ' ina in
10. The FAO 1998 Rural Development Strategy Potosõ , Bolivia.
Document notes the increasing importance of interna-
tional migration in the functioning of rural economies 20. Of course, such weakening of networks may allow
and livelihoods (FAO, 1998, para 13). people greater freedom from having to redistribute their
income back to members of these networks (Woolcock,
11. Similar, though less dramatic examples of rural 1998).
accumulation based on peri-urban trade are apparent in
rural communities near the town of Llallagua, Potosõ . 21. The authors themselves would generally have a
wider notion of the nature of poverty, but it is this
12. This may take the form of losing land (as in dimension that comes through in these frameworks.
Durham's, 1995 cycles of accumulation and poverty) or
financial capital and soil quality (as in Bernstein 's, 1979 22. Indeed, more recent participatory poverty assess-
simple reproduction squeeze). ments have tried to combine these different approaches
and concerns, and interestingly have been vehicles for
13. Indeed by capturing the notion of both viability pursuing the role of social capital in household liveli -
and meaningfulness, the hope is that the framework will hood strategies (Moser, 1998).
allow us to address both narrower income/expenditure
and wider dignity/security based notions of poverty. 23. This point is important, because indicators of
poverty alleviation are not the same as those of
14. Serageldin and Steer (1994) in fact speak of sustainability, and while, say, the former may improve,
``human made capital,'' though this is later termed this may be at the expense of an unsustainable draw
``produced capital'' in World Bank (1996)—a document down on particular capital assets.
heavily influenced by Steer.
24. Simon Batterbury (personal communication)
15. Following the early Bank experiences with social makes a similar observation for the case of West Africa.
funds, the 1990 WDR also argued that these strategies
should be accompanied by safety net type funds to 25. For instance market exchange, political patronage,
``catch'' those adversely affected by policies fostering state building, sustaining collective action for particular
growth in produced capital. identity groups etc.
16. Clearly the UNCED proceedings in Rio in 1992 26. What in Sen ' s language would be termed turning
gave more political weight to this idea. endowments into entitlements (Sen, 1981)
17. They speak of.. ``weak'' sustainability.. to maintain 27. Exercises such as the World Values Survey aim to
total capital stock intact without regard to its compo- measure ``trust'' and such data have been used to assess
the links between social capital and economic growth subsidies from the state, thus impeding the free
(Knack and Keefer, 1997); but there are many difficulties functioning of markets.
with these measures.
29. Elsewhere I have argued that critical research on
28. It is important in this regard to note that rural change and the peasantry ought pay more atten -Knack
and Keefer ' s work originates from IRIS, the tion to income than it does. This is not to contr adict the
research center of the late Mancur Olson who present assertion: rather the call is for understandings
disagreed profoundly with Putnam, instead arguing that, in their critique and in their proposals, pay as
much that organizations put a break on economic growth attention to the material as to the hermeneutic
of by creating constituencies that obtain rents and poverty and livelihoods.
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World Development Vol. 27, No. 12, pp.

Capitals and Capabilities: A Framework for Analyzing

1. INTRODUCTION resources (Leach, Mearns and Scoones, 1998,

Subsequent work began to suggest that (iii) Migration

Figure 1. Assets, livelihoods and poverty.

Figure 2. Relationships of resource access, use and transformation.

notoriously difficult to define, above all in a economic and government performance. 28

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