Between Institutional and Domestic Logics: Symbolic Capital in Community Development in a Disadvantaged Neighbourhood in Berlin, Germany

Community development projects aim to activate residents of disadvantaged neighbourhoods through social capital, as does, for example, the Stadtteilmütter project in such a neighbourhood in Berlin, Germany. However, after decades of such initiatives, disadvantaged neighbourhoods still tend to be pockets of disadvantage. This article explores one possible reason for this community development failure: the focus on enhancing social capital does not include enough attention to symbolic resources. However, as we argue through the empirical lens of the experiences of workers in the Stadtteilmütter project, the symbolic capital of reputation and respect in the domestic logics in a disadvantaged neighbourhood can collide with institutional logics of ‘facts’ and professional distance. This collision creates ambivalence in trustworthiness, whereas trusting relations are a central feature of social capital.