Linking Indigenous Social Capital to a Global Economy

capital. Mancur Olson's² theory of collective action will be used to identify the limits within
which the structural properties of bridging networks must conform. In turn, the identification of
these universal parameters will provide guidance in the search for new forms of bridging social
capital.

The second element in our approach, which is drawn, by and large, from sociological
research is the notion that although bridging social capital must be expansive, it can take a
variety of qualitatively different forms with respect to "weakness" or "strength" of ties. This
assertion, it will be argued, removes the limitations of assertions about path dependency, instead
opening up opportunities to identify "path alternatives."

The third element in our approach emphasizes the importance of public policy decision-
making in influencing the advantages or disadvantages of indigenous social capital. In this
regard, public policy decision-making with respect to social capital formation may be viewed as
analogous to public policy decision-making with respect to the market. That is, participants in
both the marketplace and social capital formation have primary responsibilities for their level of
activity (or inactivity), but governments do have an important role in both instances in dealing
with unfair competitive situations. This view emphasizes the importance of viewing political
struggles, in part at least, as conflicts over competing institutional and organizational
arrangements that favor one type of indigenous social capital over another.

The last section of the paper will examine the role of survey research in identifying
public policy strategies for utilizing indigenous social capital to link traditional communities to
the global economy. Examples from the Russian Village surveys of household adaptations to
post-Soviet reforms and a social network analysis of the role of Tribal Colleges and Universities

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