Capital social como instrumento de desenvolvimento sustentável

In the last decades, there has been a growing concern for an equitable and sustainable social development; hence development policies that have outlined have implied a concern for equity and justice, thus learning from the past to project the future. But those who appreciate the horizon, without diminishing the estate and the memory, live the present moment committed to facilitate the future. This position implies an attitude of citizens committed to the social. It is thus compromised and co-responsible entrepreneurship that comprises social capital as a means of sustainable development. This study seeks to understand the extent to which social capital is one of the determinants of sustainable development. One wonders, for this, the indicators that best measure social capital. In more specific, we seek to understand how far society has encouraged the Portuguese capital as a fundamental resource for development. This point is illustrated from the European Values Survey and, in a longitudinal, analyzes the Portuguese behavior between 1990 and 2008. The results show that the Portuguese are not yet sensitized to the issue of sustainable development, reveal very closed postures, little or nothing concerned with the construction of a more active and committed to the common good.