Riverside: A Case Study of Social Capital and Cultural Reproduction and their Relationship to Leadership Development

This case study research is based on a 3-year project (1996-1999)in which Iowa State University Extension developed and implemented a long-term community development project based on strengthening social capital using participatory research. The results of this mapping were initially interpreted as indicating a high level of social capital, but on further analysis questions were raised about the interrelationship between social capital and cultural reproduction. Using the concrete example of Riverside, the authors sought to understand the dynamics between these concepts. Is there an appropriate balance between social capital and cultural reproduction? How do these two concepts relate to leadership development? They concluded that community development projects frequently tend to reproduce existing leadership structures rather than create opportunities to expand community leadership beyond existing leadership pools or cliques.