The Building Blocks of Social Trust: The Role of Customary Mechanisms and Property Relations for the Emergence of Social Trust in the Context of the Commons. Issue 4 (July 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Goetzmann, Marc
• Other Names: Künstler Raphaël guest-editor.; Bouvier Alban guest-editor.; Kaldis Byron guest-editor.; Lepan Géraldine guest-editor.; Montuschi Eleonora guest-editor.; Zahle Julie guest-editor.; Bonilla Jesús Zamora guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Philosophy of the social sciences. Volume 51:Issue 4(2021)
• Page Start: 347
• Page End: 370
• Publication Date: 2021-07
• Subjects: Elinor Ostrom -- commons -- social trust -- property -- structuralism; Social sciences -- Periodicals; Social sciences -- Methodology -- Periodicals; Sciences sociales -- Périodiques; Sciences sociales -- Méthodologie -- Périodiques; 300.1
• DOI: 10.1177/00483931211008432
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0048-3931

Abstract

This paper argues that social trust is the emergent product of a complex system of property relations, backed up by a sub-system of mutual monitoring. This happens in a context similar to Ostrom's commons, where cooperation is necessary for the management of resources, in the absence of external authorities to enforce sanctions. I show that social trust emerges in this context because of an institutional structure that enables individuals to develop a generalized disposition to internalize the external effects of their actions. This is made possible by the "patrimonial" nature of this structure.