Feminine Social Capital and Women’s Political Participation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Pakistan)

Abstract

Feminine social capital shapes women’s experiences in different public and private domains
of life in which their political participation is no exception. Drawing on Pierre Bourdieu's
understanding of social capital and Patricia Hill Collins’ explanation of intersectionality and
matrices of domination: this piece of scholarship unearths that 1) what is social capital
among women and 2) how does feminine social capital enhance women’s political
participation? The methodological application of this study is guided by feminist
epistemology. Data for this study come from 26 women political representatives through the
purposive sampling technique. The study was confined to women's political representatives
only. The interview guide was the instrument of data collection. The thematic analysis
technique helped in the analysis of data. The study findings suggest that women’s social
capital was not sound enough because their social circles were weak, the reciprocity and
trust among women were deficient, and women had also less social support from their
families for their political participation. However, one positive aspect was observed that the
increasing women's social capital was reflecting satisfactory results in their political
participation.