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Social cohesion
 
 
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Social cohesion is a term used in social policy
Social policy

Social policy primarily refers to guidelines and interventions for the changing, maintenance or creation of living conditions that are conducive to Quality of life....
, sociology
Sociology

Sociology is a branch of the social sciences that uses systematic methods of Empiricism and critical theory to develop and refine a body of knowledge about human social structure and activity, sometimes with the goal of applying such knowledge to the pursuit of social welfare....
 and political science
Political science

Political science is a social science concerned with the theory and practice of politics and the description and analysis of political systems and political behavior....
 to describe the bonds or "glue" that bring people together in society, particularly in the context of cultural diversity
Cultural diversity

Cultural diversity is the variety of human societies or cultures in a specific region, or in the world as a whole. There is a general consensus among mainstream anthropologists that humans first emerged in Africa about two million years ago ....
. Social cohesion is a multi-faceted notion covering many different kinds of social phenomena. It is sometimes used as a euphemism for the state of race relations
Race relations

Race relations is the area of sociology that studies the social, political, and economic relations between Race at all different levels of society....
.

Social cohesion has become an important theme in British social policy in the period since the disturbances in Britain's Northern milltowns (Oldham
Oldham

Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk and River Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester....
, Bradford
Bradford

Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield....
 and Burnley
Burnley

Burnley is a large market town in the Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a population of around 73,500. It lies east of Blackburn and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder, Lancashire and River Brun....
) in the summer of 2001 (see Oldham riots
Oldham Riots

The Oldham Riots were a short but intense period of violent rioting which occurred in Oldham, a town in Greater Manchester, England, in May 2001....
, Bradford riots, Burnley riots).






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Social cohesion is a term used in social policy
Social policy

Social policy primarily refers to guidelines and interventions for the changing, maintenance or creation of living conditions that are conducive to Quality of life....
, sociology
Sociology

Sociology is a branch of the social sciences that uses systematic methods of Empiricism and critical theory to develop and refine a body of knowledge about human social structure and activity, sometimes with the goal of applying such knowledge to the pursuit of social welfare....
 and political science
Political science

Political science is a social science concerned with the theory and practice of politics and the description and analysis of political systems and political behavior....
 to describe the bonds or "glue" that bring people together in society, particularly in the context of cultural diversity
Cultural diversity

Cultural diversity is the variety of human societies or cultures in a specific region, or in the world as a whole. There is a general consensus among mainstream anthropologists that humans first emerged in Africa about two million years ago ....
. Social cohesion is a multi-faceted notion covering many different kinds of social phenomena. It is sometimes used as a euphemism for the state of race relations
Race relations

Race relations is the area of sociology that studies the social, political, and economic relations between Race at all different levels of society....
.

Social cohesion has become an important theme in British social policy in the period since the disturbances in Britain's Northern milltowns (Oldham
Oldham

Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk and River Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester....
, Bradford
Bradford

Bradford lies at the heart of the City of Bradford, a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is situated in the foothills of the Pennines, west of Leeds, and northwest of Wakefield....
 and Burnley
Burnley

Burnley is a large market town in the Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a population of around 73,500. It lies east of Blackburn and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder, Lancashire and River Brun....
) in the summer of 2001 (see Oldham riots
Oldham Riots

The Oldham Riots were a short but intense period of violent rioting which occurred in Oldham, a town in Greater Manchester, England, in May 2001....
, Bradford riots, Burnley riots). In investigating these, academic Ted Cantle drew heavily on the concept of social cohesion, and the New Labour government (particularly then Home Minister David Blunkett
David Blunkett

David Blunkett is a United Kingdom Labour Party politician and has been Member of Parliament for Sheffield Brightside since 1987. Blindness since birth and from a poor family in one of Sheffield most deprived districts, he rose to become Secretary of State for Education and Skills from 1997 to 2001, and then Secretary of State for the Home...
) in turn widely promoted the notion.

According to the government-commissioned,State of the English Cities thematic reports, there are five different dimensions of social cohesion: material conditions, passive relationships, active relationships, inclusion and equality.
  • The report shows that material conditions are fundamental to social cohesion, particularly employment
    Employment

    Employment is a contract between two party , one being the #Employer and the other being the #Employee. An employee may be defined as: "A person in the Service of another under any contract of hire, express or implied, oral contract or written, where the employer has the power or right to control and Management the employee i...
    , income
    Income

    Income, refers to consumption opportunity gained by an entity within a specified time frame, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. However, for households and individuals, "income is the sum of all the wages, salaries, profits, interests payments, rents and other forms of earnings received......
    , health
    Health

    In 1948, the World Health Organisation defined health as ?a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.? ...
    , education
    Education

    File:Inukshuk Monterrey 1.jpgEducation can be seen as a product or a process and considered in a broad sense or a technical sense. According to philosophy of education George F....
     and housing
    Housing

    Housing may refer to:* Houses* Federal Housing Administration* Enclosure , containing some equipment or mechanism...
    . Relations between and within communities suffer when people lack work and endure hardship, debt
    Debt

    Debt is that which is owed; usually referencing assets owed, but the term can cover other obligations. In the case of assets, debt is a means of using future purchasing power in the present before a summation has been earned....
    , anxiety
    Anxiety

    Anxiety is a psychological and physiological state characterized by cognitive, somatic, emotional, and behavioral components. These components combine to create an unpleasant feeling that is typically associated with uneasiness, fear, or worry....
    , low self-esteem
    Self-esteem

    In psychology, self-esteem reflects a person's overall evaluation or appraisal of his or her own worth.Self-esteem encompasses beliefs and emotions ....
    , ill-health, poor skills and bad living conditions. These basic necessities of life are the foundations of a strong social fabric and important indicators of social progress
    Social progress

    Social progress is defined as the changing of society toward the ideal. The concept of social progress was introduced in the early, 19th century social theory, especially those of social evolutionists like August Comte and Herbert Spencer....
    .
  • The second basic tenet of cohesion is social order
    Social order

    Social order is a concept used in sociology, history and other social sciences. It refers to a set of linked social structures, social institutions and social practices which conserve, maintain and enforce "normal" ways of relating and behaving....
    , safety and freedom from fear, or "passive social relationships". Tolerance and respect for other people, along with peace and security,are hallmarks of a stable and harmonious urban society.
  • The third dimension refers to the positive interactions, exchanges and networks
    Social network

    A social network is a social structure made of nodes that are tied by one or more specific types of interdependency, such as values, visions, ideas, financial exchange, friendship, sexual network, kinship, dislike, conflict or trade....
     between individuals and communities, or "active social relationships". Such contacts and connections are potential resources for places since they offer people and organisations mutual support, information, trust
    Trust

    Trust may refer to:* Trust , relationship of reliance* Trust fall, trust-building gameIn law:* Trust law, where money or property is owned and managed on behalf of another...
     and credit of various kinds.
  • The fourth dimension is about the extent of social inclusion or integration
    Integration

    Integration may refer to:In sociology and economy:*Social integration*Racial integration, refers to social and cultural behavior; in a legal sense, see desegregation...
     of people into the mainstream institutions of civil society
    Civil society

    Civil society is composed of the totality of voluntary civic and social organizations and institutions that form the basis of a functioning society as opposed to the force-backed structures of a state and commercial institutions of the market....
    . It also includes people's sense of belonging to a city and the strength of shared experiences, identities and values between those from different backgrounds.
  • Lastly, social equality
    Social equality

    Social equality is a society state of affairs in which all people within a specific society or isolated group have the same status in a certain respect....
     refers to the level of fairness
    Fairness

    Fairness or being fair may refer to:* Distributive justice* Equity * Fairness, absence of bias in specific realms:**** In American broadcasting, presentation of controversies in accord with the Fairness Doctrine...
     or disparity in access to opportunities or material circumstances, such as income, health or quality of life
    Quality of life

    Quality of life is the degree of well-being felt by an individual or group of people.Quality of life cannot be measured directly, however the perception of QOL is made up of of two components: the physical and the psychological....
    , or in future life chances
    Life chances

    Life chances are the opportunity each individual has to improve his or her quality of life. The concept was introduced by German sociologist Max Weber....
    .


See also

  • Community cohesion
    Community cohesion

    Community cohesion refers to the aspect of togetherness and human bonding exhibited by members of a community, the "glue" that holds a community together....
  • Structural cohesion
    Structural cohesion

    Structural cohesion is the sociological and graph theory conception and measurement of cohesion for maximal social group or graphical boundaries where related elements cannot be disconnected except by removal of a certain minimal number of other nodes....
??

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