Social Cohesion : Theoretical Debates and Practical Applications with Respect to Jobs

This paper reviews the sociological and related literatures to provide insights regarding social cohesion, including its unpredictability. Apparently some cohesive societies have erupted in violent conflict, and the public systems that one would expect to manage these potential conflicts have at tim...

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Main Authors:	Norton, Andrew, de Haan, Arjan
Format:	Working Paper
Language:	en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2013
Online Access:	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/12147

id	okr-10986-12147
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-121472021-04-23T14:02:59Z Social Cohesion : Theoretical Debates and Practical Applications with Respect to Jobs Norton, Andrew de Haan, Arjan This paper reviews the sociological and related literatures to provide insights regarding social cohesion, including its unpredictability. Apparently some cohesive societies have erupted in violent conflict, and the public systems that one would expect to manage these potential conflicts have at times reinforced them. Simultaneously, some of the “pessimism” of classic sociology about decline of social cohesion, notably in the context of great transformations such as urbanization and industrialization, has not proved justified. Social structures exhibit much resilience, communities have the capacity to regenerate, and particularistic group identities do not necessarily fail in compatibility with other and broader forms of integration and identity. The social arena of work relates to social cohesion in extremely complex ways; for example, social networks can both enable and limit opportunities for work, and work can enhance networks and sharing of values beyond narrow communities. The links between jobs and cohesion are multi-faceted; in industrial society they clearly relate to an individual’s social status, relative wealth, and power relations. The existence of good jobs, perceived as fairly distributed, must be a central component of social cohesion and take into account the political context. 2013-01-18T20:37:47Z 2013-01-18T20:37:47Z 2012-10 http://hdl.handle.net/10986/12147 en_US Background Paper for the World Development Report 2013; CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research :: Working Paper Publications & Research
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	en_US
relation	Background Paper for the World Development Report 2013;
description	This paper reviews the sociological and related literatures to provide insights regarding social cohesion, including its unpredictability. Apparently some cohesive societies have erupted in violent conflict, and the public systems that one would expect to manage these potential conflicts have at times reinforced them. Simultaneously, some of the “pessimism” of classic sociology about decline of social cohesion, notably in the context of great transformations such as urbanization and industrialization, has not proved justified. Social structures exhibit much resilience, communities have the capacity to regenerate, and particularistic group identities do not necessarily fail in compatibility with other and broader forms of integration and identity. The social arena of work relates to social cohesion in extremely complex ways; for example, social networks can both enable and limit opportunities for work, and work can enhance networks and sharing of values beyond narrow communities. The links between jobs and cohesion are multi-faceted; in industrial society they clearly relate to an individual’s social status, relative wealth, and power relations. The existence of good jobs, perceived as fairly distributed, must be a central component of social cohesion and take into account the political context.
format	Publications & Research :: Working Paper
author	Norton, Andrew de Haan, Arjan
spellingShingle	Norton, Andrew de Haan, Arjan Social Cohesion : Theoretical Debates and Practical Applications with Respect to Jobs
author_facet	Norton, Andrew de Haan, Arjan
author_sort	Norton, Andrew
title	Social Cohesion : Theoretical Debates and Practical Applications with Respect to Jobs
title_short	Social Cohesion : Theoretical Debates and Practical Applications with Respect to Jobs
title_full	Social Cohesion : Theoretical Debates and Practical Applications with Respect to Jobs
title_fullStr	Social Cohesion : Theoretical Debates and Practical Applications with Respect to Jobs
title_full_unstemmed	Social Cohesion : Theoretical Debates and Practical Applications with Respect to Jobs
title_sort	social cohesion : theoretical debates and practical applications with respect to jobs
publisher	World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate	2013
url	http://hdl.handle.net/10986/12147
_version_	1764419197601841152

Social Cohesion : Theoretical Debates and Practical Applications with Respect to Jobs

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