"It´s not what you know, it´s who you know". A Minor Field Study about a Philippine cooperative.

Abstract: According to the World Bank Group, social capital is an important factor in the process of fighting poverty in developing countries, and some researchers mean that cooperative organizations are the ultimate business model to create social capital (Majee & Hoyt, 2011). The aim of this study is to investigate whether or not social capital is emerging in a Philippine water cooperative, funded by the Swedish Cooperative Centre, located in Metro Manila. The methods used in this study are qualitative semi-structured interviews, and observations. For the analysis, Putnam´s and Bourdieu´s theories about social capital were used as tools to explain the empirical data. The results show that there are two things influencing the respondent’s experiences regarding their membership the most. These two things are trust and conflicts, which makes it interesting to combine the two specific chosen theories since Bourdieu focuses a lot on conflicts, and Putnam on trust. The conclusion of the study is that both of the theories can be used to explain how social capital is created in this specific case, and that the cooperative is a positive factor in developing the community it is located in.