Social Networking as a Development Tool: A Critical Reflection

Abstract

The convergence of community development and participatory democracy philosophies and practices supports social networking as a key tool to address urban social issues. The proliferation of formalised social networks is examined here to provide a New Zealand example of global trends towards fostering ‘social capital’ to address urban social problems. Social networking is situated in a participatory governance context and critiques of neo-liberalism and Bourdieu’s formulation of social capital are used to consider divergent and often conflicting expectations and practices of networking. Ethnographic data are used to demonstrate that, for some ethnic minority groupings, perverse economic incentives meant that it was more advantageous to maintain a marginalised position rather than to participate in ‘community’ networks. Evidence of increasing levels of multiscale collaboration is qualified by such exclusions of some sectors of community and the continuation of strategic agendas developed without community input.