Definition

Social cohesion refers to the extent of connectedness and solidarity among groups in society. It identifies two main dimensions: the sense of belonging of a community and the relationships among members within the community itself. It stems from a democratic effort to establish social balance, economic dynamism, and national identity, with the goals of founding a system of equity, sustaining the impulses of uncontrolled economic growth, and avoiding social fractures.

Social cohesion is a social process which aims to consolidate plurality of citizenship by reducing inequality and socioeconomic disparities and fractures in the society. It reflects people’s needs for both personal development and a sense of belonging and links together individual freedom and social justice, economic efficiency and the fair sharing of resources, and pluralism and common rules for resolving all conflicts.

Description

There are many different definition and consequently conceptual approaches to social cohesion. They vary according to period, culture, and the prevailing political ideas and differ from one another mainly in terms of the role of the players involved, the areas of life or groups concerned and, finally, the methods they employ to foster this cohesion.

According to Durkheim, a cohesive society is one that is marked by the abundance of “mutual moral support, which instead of throwing the individual on his own resources, leads him to share in the collective energy and supports his own when exhausted” (Durkheim, 1893). A cohesive society is also one that is richly endowed with stocks of social capital.

Social cohesion refers to two broader, intertwined features of society:

  1. 1.

    The absence of latent social conflict – whether in the form of inequalities in income or wealth, racial and ethnic tensions, disparities in political participation, or other forms of polarization

  2. 2.

    The presence of strong social bonds – measured by levels of trust and norms of reciprocity (i.e., social capital), the abundance of associations that bridge social divisions (“civil society”), and the presence of institutions of conflict management (e.g., a responsive democracy, an independent judiciary).

It is possible to identify at least three types of definitions of social cohesion.

The first is based on sense of belonging which considers the ongoing process of developing a community of shared values, shared challenges, and equal opportunities based on a sense of hope, trust, and reciprocity (Stanley, 2001, 2003). It involves building shared values, reducing disparities in wealth and income, and encouraging people to have a sense of engagement in the same community (Rossel, 1995).

The second definition is merely instrumental, and it is based on the need of the members of society to work together. In this perspective, social cohesion is a “state of affairs in which a community, typically geographically delimitated, demonstrates an aptitude for collaboration that produces a climate for change” (Ritzen, Easterly, & Woolcock, 2000; Easterly, Ritzen, & Woolcock, 2006). The change might be related to economic performance, and in this sense social cohesion is intended as condition in which people works together when, for example, crisis strikes or opportunity knocks. This interpretation brings to define social cohesion as the nature and extent of social and economic divisions within society. These divisions – whether by income, ethnicity, political party, caste, language, or other demographic variable – represent vectors around which politically salient societal cleavages can develop (Ritzen et al., 2000). In line with this interpretation, the Canadian Government considers that “social cohesion is defined as the capacity of citizens living under different social or economic circumstances to live together in harmony, with a sense of mutual commitment” (Canadian Government, 1999).

The third definition is based on community bonds and considers that “social cohesion does not require communities to merge into an homogeneous entity […] On the contrary cohesion can be achieved in a pluralist society through the interaction of different communities that build a bond through the recognition of difference and interdependence” (Rudiger & Spencer, 2004).

The Council of Europe echoes this understanding of cohesion as society’s ability to secure the long-term well-being of all its members, including equitable access to available resources and respect for human dignity with due regard for diversity, personal and collective autonomy, and responsible participation (Council of Europe, 2005).

These definitions are mainly based on bonds that can be considered intrinsic to the organization of the community, while in our societies, social cohesion covers a complex set of social relations and involves processes of exposure to a variety of different interests, views, and insights. In societies characterized by a plurality of interests and identities, cohesion mainly results from the ability to develop nonviolent consensual processes to resolve any conflict, with regard to either allocation of resources or to the recognition of dignity in the various lifestyle choices and traditions and in the context of equitable access to rights. It results from interpretative exercises that the institutional players and autonomous individuals carry out as they shoulder their collective responsibilities in order to resolve conflicts.

Social cohesion is the product of interrelations between individuals and institutions within a framework of laws recognized as legitimate by the community (Council of Europe, 2005). It should therefore take the form of a reference framework that institutions and active citizens adopt and renew to provide themselves in turn with shared and relevant political objectives that prevent social conflict and ensure the democratic stability of society as a whole. Therefore, more than the sharing of identical values, social cohesion focuses on the sharing of the objective of achieving equity and equality necessary to develop as an individual in the context of existing social relationships.

Cross-References

Democracy

Quality of Life

Social Exclusion

Social Progress

Welfare