Social Inclusion

Abstract: Social inclusion is a concept that we all applaud. Normatively we tend to agree that it is a goal societies should pursue—and it is indeed a social and cultural value that most, if not quite all, societies profess to be based on. Social inclusiveness, cultural cohesion, communal values, a shared identity, mutual recognition, respectful dialogue, peaceful interaction, policies of integration: these are positively charged notions, aims indeed worth subscribing to.

Abstract: Despite advances in knowledge and understanding about the impacts of domestic violence on women's lives, global research on violence against women shows there is a need for research that not only places women centre stage in research praxis, but also that involves them more collaboratively in genuine dialogue about their experiences, including their agentic stances. This is especially the case for marginalised and socially excluded women victims of domestic violence, such as those who are not known or do not present to services and who survive abusive relationships alone or with little outside support. Evidence from two studies reported here—secondary analysis of women with severe and enduring mental health problems and a collaborative narrative project with unsupported women victims of domestic violence—suggest that women's capacity for agency are compromised by a number of critical factors, and that these are also reflected in the tensions between micro–macro analyses and understanding of the impact of domestic violence on women. This article considers the barriers to women's agency from the women's perspective and in the context of broader, systemic dynamics, including the denial or obscuring of abuse by governments and states and the consequences of stringent fiscal retrenchment that put women at increased risk of domestic violence.

Abstract: Despite increasing understanding, evidence and official commitment to challenge these patterns, racist hostility and violence continue to have an enduring presence in urban and rural life in the UK. This indicates the paradoxical nature of this racial crisis and challenges for antiracism as a political project. This paper charts how these issues play out at the local level through an examination of a five year process from problem identification through to research, response, action and aftermath from 2006 to 2012 in the city of Leeds, UK, with a focus on two predominantly white working class social housing estates in the city. We explore how embedded tensions and antagonisms can begin to be challenged, while examining how the contemporary climate of austerity and cuts in services, together with prevailing post-racial thinking, make the likelihood of such concerted action in the UK increasingly remote.

Abstract: Idle No More, a recent protest movement initiated to draw attention to concerns by Indigenous people and allies about changes in Canada's environment and economic policies, has also raised awareness about social and economic conditions experienced by much of Canada's Indigenous population. While discourses and policies oriented to social inclusion are not as prominent in Canada as in Europe and several other contexts, these conditions and the strategies adopted by governments to address them are consistent with narrowly-framed inclusion policies. We provide an overview of what these conditions represent and how they have come to be framed in the context of the Idle No More movement. However, we extend our analysis to understand how the Idle No More movement and discourses of inclusion and exclusion alike have often been framed in ways that further limit solutions to the problems that they are oriented to resolve by stigmatizing and distancing Indigenous people, especially when they ignore or undermine distinct Indigenous rights and the foundations of formal Aboriginal status. We draw upon Indigenous concepts of justice and critical analyses of power relations in order to explore the contradictory locations and experiences associated with Indigenous inclusion in the Canadian context. We conclude by exploring the movement's contributions to broadened conceptions of inclusion that build upon alternative conceptions of socioeconomic participation and success.

Abstract: Disability is not a 'health problem'; however some people with disabilities do have increased health needs, and all people with disabilities have the same right to access health services as others. The number of people living with disabilities is increasing, due partly to increasing numbers of people living with the consequences of chronic communicable and non-communicable diseases. Based on recommendations of the World Report on Disability, which provides the parameters for research, this paper sets out a research agenda calling for a considerable research programme on social, civil, and economic impacts of living with disability, arising from whatever cause, including communicable and non-communicable diseases; signific­ant global health policy revisions; identification of constraints and facilitators in access to healthcare for people with disabilities; development of a robust evidence base for implementing the new guidelines on community-based rehabilitation; innovations in addressing human re­source challenges faced by disability and rehabilitation service-providers; development of en­abling technologies that focus on individuals' aspirations and social gain; preparedness for responding to the needs of people with disabilities in disaster situations; and the application of disability metrics to strengthen health systems.

Abstract: This paper addresses the impact of social capital on the status attainment process of young people at the start of their careers and examines how social class, gender and ethnicity affect the accumulation of social capital and thereby labour market stratification of young people. A sample of young Swedes graduating from vocational schools and universities between 2005 and 2006, was surveyed via the telephone about their experiences acquiring jobs. Two re­search questions are posed: (i) Which characteristics (class, gender and ethnicity) affect young people's access to more social capital? (ii) How is social capital rewarded in the labour market? The results show that being female, coming from the lower social classes and being a member of a stigmatized immigrant groupare associated with a substantial social capital deficit. When socioeconomic and demographic backgrounds as well as the human capital of respondents are controlled, social capital is positively associated with salary level. The results indicate that social capital is a significant factor in the stratification process of young people.

Abstract: We use the China General Social Survey (2005) and the Home Office Citizenship Survey (2005) to study civic engagement and neighbourhood trust in China and Britain in this paper. We focus on class differences in participation in sports/recreation, religion, children’s/adult education and public-welfare activities, and trust in the neighbours. At an overall level, we find higher levels of civic involvement in Britain but greater neighbourhood trust in China. This overall difference is due to China having a large proportion of peasants who have very low levels of civic involvement but very high levels of neighbourhood trust. Among the non-peasant population, the two countries have similar levels of class differences in civic (except religious) involvement. Whilst little class difference is found in China on neighbourhood trust, marked effects are shown in Britain. Overall, there is greater similarity than difference in class effects on both domains of social capital. The difference can be traced to civic traditions and levels of social and geographical mobility in the two countries, as well as China-specific institutional arrangement in the household registration (hukou) system.

Abstract: Over the past 40 years, the United States has engaged in various policies to integrate otherwise segregated black and white households within a shared space. However, little work has been done to fully articulate a moral argument for residential integration among black and white households. This paper offers what I refer to as the normative argument, which possesses two morally-impelled arguments for residential integration. Since the ethical appeal to integrate is often couched in the language of justice, I begin with a framework—based upon the work of the late philosopher John Rawls—for considering the moral aspects of residential integration. However, I go on to point out intractable problems related to the Rawlsian framework that would fail to flesh out all ethical considerations of the normative argument. From here, I provide a revised, or neo-Rawlsian, framework for understanding residential integration which addresses the aforementioned problems. This exercise is both important and necessary for the future of residential mixing, as better understanding the moral and ethical attributes of this discussion is, perhaps, the best means to lubricate the fundamental shift from 'spatial' to 'social' integration.