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This book explains the concept of social cohesion in the context of a comparative sociological study. It proposes an innovative approach to the measurement of social cohesion, considering as constitutive elements social trust, institutional trust, and societies’ degree of openness. Aruqaj observes these elements across time and on multiple social levels: individual (socio-economic inequalities and ethno-linguistic diversification); group (social categorisations and regional statistics of religious, gender, social status, and migration differences); and societal (reflecting the quality of life and human capabilities). This book provides an analysis of social cohesion not only between but also within European societies. It will appeal to students and scholars interested in solidarity and social integration working in sociology, social psychology, and development studies.
Oversimplification of the concept of social cohesion as a singularly identifiable marker of social growth has lead to obscured understanding of the nuances necessary for achievement of the term’s true potential. This book thus provides a critique of a popular concept and an example of engaged philosophical criticism of social research and policy.
The book offers new insights into how ethnicity, language and regional-local identity interact within the context of Ukrainian political reform, and indicates how these reforms affect social cohesion among ethno-cultural groups. While the individual chapters each focus on one or a few facets of the overall research question, together they draw a nuanced picture of the multifaceted challenges to creating and consolidating social cohesion in a nationalizing state. The concept integrates various disciplines, including political science, international relations, law, and sociology. Correspondingly, the contributions are based on various methodological approaches, ranging from legal analysis over media discourse analysis, individual and focus group interviews to analysis of data from a representative population survey. The findings of the in-depth study are discussed within the broader context of comparative research on diversity management and social cohesion in fragmented societies.
Many people in the Western world are concerned that the social fabric of societies is fraying. This book constitutes the first-of-its-kind systematic account of social cohesion, from theory through methodology to empirical evidence. Readers are introduced to the academically developed Social Cohesion Radar of Bertelsmann Stiftung, a globally active non-governmental organization. The Social Cohesion Radar defines and measures cohesion as characterized by three core aspects: resilient social relations, positive emotional connectedness between people and the community, and a pronounced focus on the common good. Using high-quality academic and institutional data sources, the Social Cohesion Radar provides insights into the level and development of social cohesion over a period of almost 25 years internationally, among 34 European Union and OECD members, and regionally, among the 16 federal states of Germany. It further provides insights into what influences cohesion, and what cohesion is good for. One of the key findings is that social cohesion promotes a happier life for everyone.
In our world of unceasing turmoil, an educated citizenry is the first and strongest line of defence for democratic renewal. Educating for Democracy shows how students can prepare for the responsibilities of 'the most important office in a democracy' – that of a citizen. Education can provide students with the dispositions and skills needed to exercise their role judiciously and responsibly, as a patriot who cares about democracy and as a custodian who cares for democracy. These two aspects of caring call for curriculum-wide reform. The outcome of this reform is a patriot who serves as custodian of democratic culture, where commitment and competence, heart and mind, love and intellect, are brought together for the sake of democratic renewal. While nations, as both instruments and proximal objects of care, have an important role to play in this renewal, the ultimate aim is the care and cultivation of a democratic culture.
In Extravagance and Misery: The Emotional Regime of Market Societies, Alan Thomas, Alfred Archer, and Bart Engelen investigate the extensive and growing economic inequalities that characterize the affluent market societies of the West. Drawing on insights from political philosophy and the new science of happiness, they show the damaging impact that existing inequalities have on our well-being, and offer an explanation for what went wrong in our highly unequal and frequently unhappy societies. Combining the approaches of philosophy and political economy, the authors expose the economic, social and political mechanisms that create and perpetuate economic inequalities. They employ research from...
The ongoing social crises and moral conflicts evident in global social policy debates are addressed in this timely volume. Leading interdisciplinary scholars focus on the ‘social’ of social policy, which is increasingly conceived in a globalised form, as new international agreements and global goals engender social struggles. They tackle pressing ‘social questions’, many of which have been exacerbated by COVID-19, including growing inequality, changing world population, ageing societies, migration and intersectional disadvantage. This ground-breaking volume critically engages with contested conceptions of the social which are increasingly deployed by international institutions and policy makers. Focusing on social sustainability, social cohesion, social justice, social wellbeing and social progress this text is even more crucial as policy makers look to accelerate socially sustainable solutions to the world’s biggest challenges.
Central Asian post-independence media and communication industries, professional practices, education, persisting and evolving values, and traditions remain critically understudied with a notable scarcity of research and scholarly publications on the complex and increasingly changing communicative ecology landscape of this region. Mapping the Media and Communication Landscape of Central Asia: An Anthology of Emerging and Contemporary Issues addresses this gap in literature by exploring, analyzing, and shedding light to the field, practice, research and critical inquiry of media and mass communication in four countries in Central Asia—Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan. This book includes local authors as well as new and emerging researchers from this region to contextualize the issues explored and provide a supportive dialogue between different points of view.
An interdisciplinary account of the life of Johannesburg, South Africa's "global south city" Anxious Joburg focuses on Johannesburg, the largest and wealthiest city in South Africa, as a case study for the contemporary global South city. Global South cities are often characterised as sites of contradiction and difference that produce a range of feelings around anxiety. This is often imagined in terms of the global North’s anxieties about the South: migration, crime, terrorism, disease and environmental crisis. Anxious Joburg invites readers to consider an intimate perspective of living inside such a city. How does it feel to live in the metropolis of Johannesburg: what are the conditions, ...