Social Capital And Democracy In Mexico: The Social Limits Of Political Change

It is widely held that Mexican civil society is a fundamental factor in the shift towards democracy in Latin America, in spite of its articulation from a structurally unequal society. The purpose of this article is to analyze that paradox through the concept of social capital. I illustrate the mal-distribution of this resource and the rules that regulate it under a segregationist mentality. This mentality affects quotidian relationships as much as the bonds of the social-political system, which underlines how Mexican society is a frame of unequal relationships characterized by a restricted flow of social capital that limits the quality of political change.