‘Mãos amigas’: comunidades intencionais e desenvolvimento de capital social. Dados de Portugal

Conceição, Tiago; Mota, Luís F.; Pinto, Maria Luís

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Sumário

Original Article • Rev. Sociol. Polit. 32 • 2024 • https://doi.org/10.1590/1678-98732432e001 copiar

‘Mãos amigas’: comunidades intencionais e desenvolvimento de capital social. Dados de Portugal

Autoria SCIMAGO INSTITUTIONS RANKINGS

RESUMO

Introdução:

Partindo de uma concepção de capital social baseada nas teorias de Pierre Bourdieu e Nan Lin, analisamos a capacidade de duas comunidades intencionais (ICs) portuguesas para fomentar o desenvolvimento de capital social. Procuramos avaliar o potencial desmercantilizador destas organizações sociais alternativas e o seu papel na mitigação de desigualdade social.

Materiais e métodos:

Os dados foram recolhidos através de observação-participante e entrevistas semiestruturadas. Incluímos também versões ligeiramente modificadas de mecanismos de mapeamento e medição de capital social através da identificação de contatos com cargos/ocupações reputadas (Position-Generator) e acesso a recursos relevantes (Resource-Generator).

Resultados:

Redes sociais podem promover a acumulação de benefícios econômicos e capital humano, além de apoiar a construção de identidade social e fornecer suporte emocional. Contudo, há distinções significativas entre os dois casos quanto à capacidade de reduzir a dependência do mercado e ao valor das distintas formas de capital social mobilizado. Em um caso, economias comunitárias baseadas em atividades coletivas lucrativas se mostram eficientes em atender necessidades básicas por meio do trabalho comunitário. No outro, apesar das economias comunitárias apoiadas em empreendimentos individuais diminuírem os custos pessoais de atender necessidades básicas, isso leva a uma maior dependência de trabalhos temporários externos. Neste contexto, o capital social individual, como os relacionamentos dentro da comunidade, é crucial para benefícios econômicos, como empregabilidade aquisição de novas competências.

Discussão:

A estrutura interna das comunidades intencionais influencia diretamente o desenvolvimento de capital social e a redução da dependência do mercado, sendo fundamental para a promoção de igualdade e inclusão. Apesar de oferecerem benefícios emocionais, podem existir barreiras à entrada para indivíduos menos abastados. Pesquisas longitudinais são necessárias para avaliar se a diversidade inicial dessas comunidades leva à igualdade social e quais fatores contribuem para isso.

Palavras-chave
comunidades intencionais; desenvolvimento comunitário; capital social; benefícios socioeconômicos; Portugal

		Ananda Kalyani	Cabrum
General features	Type of community	Religious (displays certain features of an ecological community)	Ecological (displays slight features of a religious community)
	Number of members	13 (7 Portuguese)	13 (7 intentional; 4 Portuguese)
	Age	Young adults/adults (no children)	Young adults and adults (3 children)
	Form of membership	New members are integrated as single members (ushers in a stronger form of communal living)	New members are integrated into the community as a new household/family (provides a stronger balance between private and communal living)
	Extra-communal social network	Integrated into an international spiritual organization (Ananda Marga)	Integrated into a national network through the community's organization (Amakura)
Political and economic organization	Power structure	Based on membership length and position occupied within Ananda Marga's spiritual hierarchy. The former tends to prevail over the latter	Based on membership time-length
	Decision-making bodies	• Strategic decision-making bodies tend to be exclusive (though the composition is changeable) • Daily decision-making bodies are more inclusive
	Economic organization	Shared economy prevails over the private one	Private economy prevails over the shared one
Social capital (group level) collective mobilization	Institutionalized duties	Availability to work for the community	• Monetary contributions • Availability to work for the community
Social capital (group level) collective mobilization	Resources mobilized/Form of mobilizing resources	Mobilization of the members' working force/skills during the community's enterprises (e.g., participation in summer festivals, preparing community events)	• Mobilization of the members' working force/skills at shared tasks: ‘ajudadas’ • Mobilization of economic capital through the taxation of each member's lucrative activities and shared contribution to pay for running expenses and investments in the community's projects
Social capital (group level) delegation	Institutionalized duties	Availability to work for the community
Social capital (group level) delegation	Resources mobilized		• Social and human capital • Availability to work for the community
Social capital (group level) gain	Collective mobilization	Economic capital (income/investments): the community's running expenses and investments covered; members' basic expenses covered; attribution of an allowance for long-term members (more than one-year membership)	Economic capital (reduced costs): reduction of the cost of individual basic expenses and that of the community running expenditures/investments
Social capital (group level) gain	Delegation	• Economic capital (income) same as above • Human and social capital (e.g., interaction with experts in areas of knowledge such as organic farming) • Time: for additional voluntary work, leisure
Social capital (individual level) Instrumental capitalization	'Practical' gains	Time and effort: help with community's tasks or individual projects (e.g., AK - running a selling stand at a local fair; Cabrum - building one's house)
	Human capital	• Through the participation in workshops, courses and events organized by the community on topics such as organic farming • By learning from community members
	Economic gains	• Sources of income: opportunity to run one's lucrative activities in the community or in collaboration with organizations the community has established ties with. • Cost reduction: space to hold your own events (free of charge or at low cost); car-sharing and pooling	• • Sources of income: short term employment opportunities within the community; • • Cost reduction: room for holding events of one's own (free of charge or at low cost); burden-sharing arrangements and direct exchange of favours
	Reputation	• Acquiring a status within the community that strengths one's claim to the mobilization of community's resources • Acquiring a status within the community that facilitates one's access and mobilization of other members' resources
Social capital (individual level) expressive mobilization	Specific interactions	Emotional support (mental health):AK - provided through private interactions with close friends at the communityCabrum - institutionalized routine (called the emotional circle) for openly sharing feelings and frustration with other community members
Social capital (individual level) expressive mobilization	Frequent unspecific interaction	Strengthening one's sense of self-worth (mental health and satisfaction with life): finding understanding and confirmation of one's behaviour and lifestyle

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[1] Tiago Conceição (tconceicao@ua.pt) is a PhD candidate at the University of Aveiro.