Social Movements and Advocacy for Local Development in The Gambia: Exploring the Role of Social Networks and Social Capital in Shaping Local Democracy

Following 22 years of authoritarian rule, The Gambia’s 2016 democratic transition generated widespread hope among youth for a "New Gambia" characterised by accountability, transparency, and institutional reform. However, unfulfilled expectations regarding corruption, service delivery, and governance failures have spurred renewed civic mobilisation. Despite the proliferation of youth-led movements, scholarly research on their role in local development and democratic participation within The Gambia's post-authoritarian context remains limited. This study addresses this gap by examining how youth movements utilise social networks and social capital to advocate for democratic accountability and local development. The research integrates Social Network Theory (Granovetter, 1973) and Social Capital Theory (Bourdieu, 1986; Putnam, 2000) to analyse the structural and relational dimensions of youth activism. A qualitative case study design was employed, focusing on two movements with distinct origins: Team Gom Sa Bopa (TGSB), founded under dictatorship in 2011, and Gambians Against Looted Assets (GALA), emerging from post-transition disappointment in 2025. Data were collected through semi-structured telephone interviews with seven movement leaders and civil society actors, triangulated with content analysis of Facebook posts and news articles. Thematic analysis was conducted using Quirkos software. Findings reveal that TGSB built strong offline bonds through cultural resistance during dictatorship before expanding to digital platforms, while GALA mobilised rapidly through weak digital ties but struggles to sustain commitment. This demonstrates that network sequence shapes movement trajectories, extending Granovetter’s framework. Bonding social capital enables survival under repression yet can exclude newer activists, revealing a paradox under-theorised in Putnam’s work. Both movements operate through hybrid networks combining Facebook for public outreach with WhatsApp and community spaces for internal coordination. The National Assembly’s establishment of a select committee investigating looted assets represents a tangible but partial victory, illustrating that social capital enables institutional access but cannot guarantee policy implementation without state capacity and political will. However, the Public Order Act continues to restrict civic space through permit requirements, producing managed liberalisation rather than democratic deepening. The study concludes that youth movements sustain democratic aspirations in fragile transitional contexts, yet their influence remains constrained by legal barriers and institutional gaps that prevent mobilisation from translating into substantive policy change. These findings contribute to theoretical debates on social networks and social capital while offering practical implications for policymakers and civil society actors seeking to strengthen participatory governance in post-authoritarian settings.