Social Inclusion Social Exclusion. Lionel Orchard

Size: px

Start display at page:

Download "Social Inclusion Social Exclusion. Lionel Orchard"

Caitlin Warner
5 years ago
Views:

1 Social Inclusion Social Exclusion Lionel Orchard

2 Definition of Social Exclusion Focus on relational and multidimensional nature of deprivation UK SEU defn a shorthand label for what can happen when individuals or areas suffer from a combination of linked problems such as unemployment, poor skills, low incomes, poor housing, high crime environments, bad health & family breakdown 2

3 Levitas Social Exclusion Discourses Redistributive Discourse (RED) SE a consequence of poverty Resources (cash income & collective services) important in addressing SE Raising benefit levels crucial to reducing SE 3

4 Levitas Social Exclusion Discourses Social Integration Discourse (SID) SE a product of lack of labour-force attachment Paid work is the primary legitimate means of integrating individuals of working age into society Levitas critique SID leaves little room for reward of unpaid work & glosses over the ways in which paid work may fail to prevent SE 4

5 Levitas Social Exclusion Discourses Moral Underclass Discourse (MUD) Focus on moral & cultural causes of poverty Central concern with moral hazard of welfare dependency Focus on particular groups unemployed & potentially criminal young men & lone parents 5

6 Sen s Questions Does SE contribute to our understanding of the nature of poverty? Does it help in identifying causes of poverty that might otherwise be neglected? Does it enrich thinking on policy and social action in alleviating policy? Nuanced positive answers to all 3 questions 6

7 Sen on SE analysis SE & Capability from focus on equality of resource & income distribution to equality of capabilities of people to choose lives they value - the being & doing view relational aspects of capability deprivation Active and Passive Exclusion deliberate and unintended exclusion not all exclusions are capricious Particular emphasis on importance of employment 7

8 Sen on SI Policy & Social Action Sharing social opportunities defence of economic & social participation and wider sharing through education & employment more inclusive, fairer markets alongside non-market institutions and determined public action in education, health care and (in developing societies) land reform Nonexclusionary expansion of human development East Asian models Political and democratic participation Attention to the diversity of exclusions 8

9 Sen s Conclusion We should not just be concerned with social exclusion but also unfavourable inclusions SE s importance does not lie in conceptual novelty it is best seen within a framework of freedoms & capabilities but SE does help in the causal as well as constitutive analyses of poverty & deprivation 9

10 Australian SI Policy Contemporary Emphasis arguably the dominance of the combination of SID & MUD over RED (using Levitas categories) Prospect? Smyth s new social contract: human capital & social investment state reconciliation of competitive economy & inclusive society 10

11 Critique Focus on exclusion & inclusion of lower income groups & classes issue of exclusion & inclusion of higher income groups & their capacity for exit is not really part of current thinking Do current SI strategies reinforce marginality of excluded groups through very specific, targeted policy responses are they simply more sophisticated welfare targeting with well-known associated dilemmas? 11

12 Critique. Why is SI good anyway? The left libertarian case for basic income & less conditional welfare Why not provide all citizens with the basis for freer choices regardless of meeting criteria of inclusion on someone else s terms? 12

13 References Levitas, R. Defining & Measuring Social Exclusion: A Critical Overview of Current Proposals, Radical Statistics, , The Idea of Social Inclusion, Address to 2003 Social Inclusion Research Conference, UK, Sen, A., Social Exclusion: Concept, Application & Scrutiny, A., Social Development Papers No. 1, Asian Development Bank, Manila, Smyth, P. In or Out? Building an Inclusive Nation, Australian Collaboration & Brotherhood of St Laurence, Melbourne,

What factors are responsible for the distribution of responsibilities between the state, social partners and markets in ALMG? (covered in part I)

What factors are responsible for the distribution of responsibilities between the state, social partners and markets in ALMG? (covered in part I) Summary Summary Summary 145 Introduction In the last three decades, welfare states have responded to the challenges of intensified international competition, post-industrialization and demographic aging