aim of this thesis is to delve into the possibilities of rural communities affected by the implementation of the neoliberal model to develop and respond to situations of economic and social vulnerability. This paper will deepen in the experiences of two rural farming communities, Aguascalientes in Mexico and Irupana in Bolivia as representative cases of situations of economic vulnerability due to the implementation of the neoliberal model and which were able to generate changes for the well-being of their community in different ways through the development of their collective social capital. Based on the general objective of this work focused in understanding how the association processes that emerge in contexts of crisis due to neoliberal reforms contribute to the increase in social capital, as a resource that can overcome situations of vulnerability, this paper seeks to answer the following research question: how the social capital offers an opportunity to address situations of economic vulnerability in rural communities? taking as examples the experiences of Aguascalientes in Mexico and Irupana in Bolivia. The results of examining the effect of the relationship between the social capital and the state, shows a valuable alternative to address the problems caused by the implementation of neoliberalism in several countries in Latin America and therefore an alternative for development bottom to top and from the local to the global (Orellana, 2007, p.8).