Las estructuras sociales de endeudamiento y los grupos de referencia comunitarios. Una comparación internacional

Abstract

Although economic sociology has been interested in the sociology of debt and credit, it has paid less attention to a systematic definition of the social structures of debt and the role they play in the context of economic development processes. This paper begins by discussing this concept through observing the various forms that these structures can take. Based on data from the ISSP 2001 survey conducted in 26 countries, social relations of indebtedness are analyzed in terms of the reference groups (family positions, outside the family, banking) that respondents would turn to if they needed a large amount of money. The orientations and reference groups adopted in each country are studied according to their level of development. The results of the analysis show the presence of important contrasts between countries with very different levels of development and reveal patterns that indicate the presence of formal and informal spaces of indebtedness. The diverse composition of the reference groups reflects the variety of social structures of indebtedness.