Liderazgo comunitario y capital social: una aproximación desde el campo biográfico

Abstract

The present investigation was conceived as a contribution to the knowledge of leadership in urban sectors in Chile, considering its implicit and explicit association with social capital. This proposal seeks to make visible the voice of minorities of these communities through their leaders, undeveloped approach so far. Through a an exploratory-descriptive study, we approach to the experience of eight community leaders (4 mens and 4 womens) who have developed their work for more than 20 years in Cerro Navia, one of the poorest sectors in Santiago. Adopting a qualitative perspective of research, we recurred to the story of life as an essential biographical account of inquiry, specifically gathering contributions from the stream called "life stories in training", to make sense to a reconstruction of the personal stories of each respondent from a self-reflective optics. The research in field was carried out progressively during three periods: from March to April 2009, between March and May 2010, and between February and March 2011. It was made a total of twenty-one interviews, which were recorded on digital audio and transcribed later by the researcher in order to maintain the relationship between literal audio and written text. All of them were done at a site chosen by the informants, and their duration ranged from ninety minutes to three chronological hours. It was chosen to structure an analysis device in the form of modules or steps that were implemented consecutively in two stages: (i) the (re) construction of life stories, and (ii) thematic categorical analysis of life stories. The present document reports the results of this research, constructed from narratives of a past that has been interpreted under the light of conceptual frameworks linked to the notions of community leadership and social capital, trying to operate from an ethic that respects reflexive work that the protagonists have done by their selves. It has seven sections or chapters. In the first three, is presented theoretical and contextual background from which was constructed the research study object. This route begins with the issues of poverty –whose overcoming is owed and prioritary until now– and social capital, meanwhile it has become an important line of work to explain and enhance the resources of communities. Then it addresses the issue of leadership in general, delving into the theories that explain and introduce the perspectives of female leadership and community leadership as relevant. The third chapter aims to contextualize the reader in the own history and characteristics of the community in which leaders interviewed have grown and developed: Cerro Navia. It is described in socio-political terms, and is provided a general framework of its story, which also serves as a "pre-text" to address the reality of Santiago in particular and the future of the country in general. In the fourth chapter it is detailed the methodological procedures involved in the research process, to, after them, in Chapters 5 and 6, materialize the presentation of results and findings of the study. Later, in Chapter 7, as a way of conclusions, is briefly recovered the information previously presented, relating it to the contextual and theoretical background, while is evaluated the development of this study.

Date of Award	11 Oct 2013
Original language	Spanish
Supervisor	Adolfo Perinat Maceres (Director)