ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the economy of urban African funeral societies to assess the extent to which associational life can be understood as an economic asset. In the context of urban community life and collective action in Africa, funeral societies are local indigenous organizations made up of friends, relatives, township residents, and workmates who group to finance, save or insure themselves and their extended families against death related expenses. The chapter theorizes the outcome of social capital by bringing into the current discourse and literature a new dimension herewith referred to as the 'care market'. It explores how this market functions vis--vis others at the level of products generated and 'traded'. The chapter argues that social capital like financial, human, and physical capital results in the generation of resources that in turn help the economy to develop. It looks at social capital as associational life and networks within groups or within a community.
