ABSTRACT
This chapter explains that mobilization among the poor hinges on the development of particular social resources; whereas the development of social capital opens possibilities for collective action, poverty's numbing effect on social resources undermines the poor's ability to even consider mobilization as a method for addressing shared grievances. A case study of the participatory and mobilizational capacities of squatter settlers in Lima, Peru illustrates the path of the downward spiral as it examines how and why resources do not develop in the context of these social processes. Fieldwork in the squatter settlement of Canto del Mar in the district of Villa el Salvador, Lima, Peru was conducted over the course of three months in early 2009. Case study of a squatter settlement in Lima, Peru illustrates a downward spiral as a lack of social capital directly relates to a lack of collective action against settlers shared grievances of poverty.
