Abstract:
The term Social Capital has been used with some frequency to explain the social and economic development of communities and the cooperation between people. Thus this study aims to identify the existence of social interactions based on trust that give rise to Social Capital at an agricultural cooperative. It is a descriptive, exploratory, qualitative research complemented with quantitative data. The case study was conducted at the ‘Cooperativa Agricola Sul Matogrossense’ - Copasul, located in the municipality of Naviraí, Mato Grosso do Sul state. Interviews with 12 managers and 10 cooperative members, as well as document analysis were carried out. The survey data show that the Social Capital can be acquired through social interactions within and outside of the cooperative and the Communities of Practice can be very important sources of the origin of this capital. Relationships of trust, cooperation and informal norms are the basis for the accumulation of Social Capital in the cooperative organization. The actions of the cooperative based on upright principles such as honesty, transparency and reliability, as well as the fidelity of the cooperative producers, make the cooperative hold the postures of a cooperative group. Through the present study, we concluded that cooperativism, when well conducted and based on cooperative principles, constitutes a model for creating a large volume of Social Capital which can determine the success of the cooperative.
Keywords:
Social capital; Trust; Cooperation; Communities of practice
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