Social capital, economic stability, and community governance : Guatemalan women dreaming of equality

Abstract

This paper explores the contribution of women’s organizations that is not limited to material economic development, but includes an analysis of the intangible evidence of social change and individual empowerment. Overall, the goal is to clarify and recognize the invaluable role of female entrepreneurs and women’s cooperatives in the social, economic and political structure of Guatemala by examining social capital building, economic stability at the household level and how they are each related to participatory governance. Each of these themes is interconnected, but taken together they form a multi-faceted lens that allows researchers to consider different perspectives in order to better understand the complexity of development in Latin America.