World of Philosophy

Author(s): Christopher Key Chapple, Intaj Malek, Dilip Charan, Sunanda Shastri, Prashant Dave
Publisher: Shanti Prakashan

Page 137

ness associations like the Ahmedabad Millowners Association (AMA). The situation in Surat was different. Business associations remained integrated due to the fact that different parts of the production process remained the specializations of Muslims making inter-communal cooperation an economic necessity. In Ahmedabad, the TLA declined along with the AMA as the textile business slowed. Thus Ahmedabad lost its one major inter-communal organizations starting after 1969 while this was not the case in Surat.
Of course, rioting did finally break out in Surat during the crisis of 1992-93. But even here, the importance of inter-communal civil society is evident to Varshney. After the destruction of the Ayodhya Mosque, the 175 deaths in Surat were confined to the shantytowns along the periphery of the old city. The shantytowns had little inter-communal civil society, while the old city remained peaceful. The organizational structure of labor contracting in the shantytowns tended to be intra-communal. Muslims and Hindus in the old city suffered the same shock wrought by the destruction of the mosque, and heard the same rumors. The old city was even the site of a Muslim protest march. Despite all this, the old city did not burn. The old business alliances between Muslims and Hindus formed the basis of ad hoc peace committees, squashing rumors about the desecrations of mosques and temples and assaults on women.
Part two: Civil Society as Social Capital
Varshney's work argues that inter-communal civil society is the key factor in determining whether a city will be riot-prone. His work is largely descriptive. I want to expand on Varshney's descriptive work by relating it to the notion that civil society can be looked on as a form of social capital. Social capital helps to explain how the inter-communal civil society studied by Varshney helps to thwart the outbreak of violence.
There are numerous definitions of social capital. In his widely influential book, Bowling Alone, Robert Putnam, a major contributor to the discussion, defines social capital as the idea that
H social networks have value. Just as a screwdriver (physical capital) or a college education (human capital) can increase productivity (both individual and collective), so do social contacts affect the productivity of individuals and groups.
In other words, the trust, reciprocity, and cooperation necessary for coordinated action that is produced by social networks can be looked on as a kind of asset. As there is financial capital as well as material and human capital, so also there is social capital. Voluntary networks, therefore, are assets in that they provide the cohesion necessary for people to cooperate with one another for mutual advantage. Based on Putnam's definition, the