Suchergebnisse

The history of Veneto in the second half of 20th century is a history of great and sudden social transformations. The first one happens because of the economic boom that began in the 1970s, later than in other areas of Italy. The boom has led to a progressive consumption of the territory which has strongly changed the landscape towards a urban sprawl. Andrea Zanzotto denounces this situation already in 1970. In the 2000s, many writers denounced the erosion of the territory by unscrupulous businessmen and corrupt politicians. In these years, the most interesting works are novel rather than essays. In particular I quindicimila passi by Vitaliano Trevisan tells this situation by focusing on an unstable and highly effective character, who dreams of the Amazon in the suburbs of Vicenza. Cartongesso by Francesco Maino, published in 2014, takes the complaint to the extreme, because the author builds a very long invective against the Venetian people. But it is only in 2015, when Romolo Bugaro publishes Effetto domino, that the second major change in the Veneto region, due to the economic crisis, is represented: the building contractors who devastate the area are now defeated.

This paper introduces the concept of social capital as a valuable social resourcewhich is accumulated and developed via activities of civil society organizations: through reciprocal relationships as well as through relations with the domain of political power. Civil society, as the institutional actor of political participation, is in a relationship with social capital, which, to a great extent, improves the political, economic and cultural aspects of societies – those with consolidated democracy and institutions, as well as post communist societies with nonconsolidated democracy. Strengthening and development of civil society has a positive impact on the strengthening and development of social capital and vice versa. On the other hand, social capital lays a solid foundation and a base for the growth and strengthening of civil society, thus raising citizens' awareness about political participation which is an indispensable ingredient of the development of democracy. By depicting norms, networking and trust, as well as by distinguishing bonding from bridging social capital, this paper is going to portray the subject matter of social capital which is "utilized" by the citizens' and stakeholders' effi cient collaboration, thus contributing to democratic development. The stability of developed social capital facilitates the development of political participation and enhances democratic development.