Normative conflicts center on fundamental disagreements over issues of public morality and the identity of a society. In thinking about normative conflicts on a global scale, two principal questions arise. First, are there common characteristics of such conflicts worldwide? Second, which institutions polarize such conflicts and which can serve to mediate them? This pathbreaking book, edited by renowned sociologist Peter Berger, examines both questions through findings gained from a study of normative conflicts in eleven societies located in different parts of the world and at different levels of economic development. On both points, the findings have proved surprising. Although there are, of course, normative conflicts peculiar to individual societies, two features emerged as common to most of the societies examined: one concerns disputes over the place of religion in the state and in public life; the other is a clash of values between a cultural elite and the broad masses of the population. Often the two features coincide. For instance, in many countries the elite is the least religious group within the population, and therefore, resentments against the elite are often mobilized under religious banners. On the institutional question, the study started out with a bias toward the institutions of so-called “civil society” that is, the institutions that stand between the personal life of individuals and the vast mega-structures of a modern society. The finding is that the same institutions can either polarize or mediate normative conflicts. The conclusion suggests one must ask not just what sort of institutions one looks to for social cohesion, but what ideas and values inspire these institutions. Comprising reports from some of the leading scholars dealing with normative conflict, this book is an important contribution to understanding the cultural fault lines that threaten social cohesion.

Normative conflicts center on fundamental disagreements over issues of public morality and the identity of a society. In thinking about normative conflicts on a global scale, two principal questions arise. First, are there common characteristics of such conflicts worldwide? Second, which institutions polarize such conflicts and which can serve to mediate them? This pathbreaking book, edited by renowned sociologist Peter Berger, examines both questions through findings gained from a study of normative conflicts in eleven societies located in different parts of the world and at different levels of economic development.On both points, the findings have proved surprising. Although there are, of course, normative conflicts peculiar to individual societies, two features emerged as common to most of the societies examined: one concerns disputes over the place of religion in the state and in public life; the other is a clash of values between a cultural elite and the broad masses of the population. Often the two features coincide. For instance, in many countries the elite is the least religious group within the population, and therefore, resentments against the elite are often mobilized under religious banners.On the institutional question, the study started out with a bias toward the institutions of so-called “civil society”—that is, the institutions that stand between the personal life of individuals and the vast mega-structures of a modern society. The finding is that the same institutions can either polarize or mediate normative conflicts. The conclusion suggests one must ask not just what sort of institutions one looks to for social cohesion, but what ideas and values inspire these institutions.Comprising reports from some of the leading scholars dealing with normative conflict, this book is an important contribution to understanding the cultural fault lines that threaten social cohesion.

Examines the literature on social cohesion. Presentsa range of indicators that have been used to measure social cohesion.

Oversimplification of the concept of social cohesion as a singularly identifiable marker of social growth has lead to obscured understanding of the nuances necessary for achievement of the term’s true potential. This book thus provides a critique of a popular concept and an example of engaged philosophical criticism of social research and policy.

This publication contains guidance on developing a methodological framework for social cohesion indicators which can be applied at local, regional, national and European levels, covering the conceptual approach used and its practical application. It sets out the results of the main applications and trials carried out in 2003 and 2004 and how they tie in with devising a framework of action.

Embracing the reality of biophysical limits to growth, this volume uses the technical tools from ecological economics to recast the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as Ecological Livelihood Goals – policy agendas and trajectories that seek to reconcile the social and spatial mobility and liberty of individuals, with both material security and ecological integrity. Since the 1970s, mainstream approaches to sustainable development have sought to reconcile ecological constraints with modernization through much vaunted and seldom demonstrated strategies of ‘decoupling’ and ‘dematerialization’. In this context, the UN SDGs have become the orchestrating drivers of sustainability governance. However, biophysical limits are not so easily sidestepped. Building on an ecological- economic critique of mainstream economics and a historical- sociological understanding of state formation, this book explores the implications of ecological limits for modern progressive politics. Each chapter outlines leverage points for municipal engagement in local and regional contexts. Systems theory and community development perspectives are used to explore under- appreciated avenues for the kind of social and cultural change that would be necessary for any accommodation between modernity and ecological limits. Drawing on ideas from H.T. Odum, Herman Daly, Zigmunt Bauman, and many others, this book provides guiding research for a convergence between North and South that is bottom-up, household-centred, and predicated on a re- emerging domain of Livelihood. In each chapter, the authors provide recommendations for reconfiguring the UN’s SDGs as Ecological Livelihood Goals – a framework for sustainable development in an era of limits. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of ecological economics, socio- ecological systems, political economy, international and community development, global governance, and sustainable development.

Many people in the Western world are concerned that the social fabric of societies is fraying. This book constitutes the first-of-its-kind systematic account of social cohesion, from theory through methodology to empirical evidence. Readers are introduced to the academically developed Social Cohesion Radar of Bertelsmann Stiftung, a globally active non-governmental organization. The Social Cohesion Radar defines and measures cohesion as characterized by three core aspects: resilient social relations, positive emotional connectedness between people and the community, and a pronounced focus on the common good. Using high-quality academic and institutional data sources, the Social Cohesion Radar provides insights into the level and development of social cohesion over a period of almost 25 years internationally, among 34 European Union and OECD members, and regionally, among the 16 federal states of Germany. It further provides insights into what influences cohesion, and what cohesion is good for. One of the key findings is that social cohesion promotes a happier life for everyone.

Social cohesion is often perceived as being under threat from the increasing cultural and economic differences in contemporary cities and the increasing intensity of urban life. Public space, in its role as the main stage for social interactions between strangers, clearly plays a role in facilitating or limiting opportunities for social cohesion. But what exactly is social cohesion, how is it experienced in the public realm, and what role can the design of city spaces have in supporting or promoting it? There are significant knowledge gaps between the social sciences and design disciplines and between academia and practice, and thus a dispersed knowledge base that currently lacks nuanced insight into how urban design contributes to social integration or segregation. This book brings together scholarly knowledge at the intersection of public space design and social cohesion. It is based on original scholarly research and a depth of urban design practice, and analyses case studies from a variety of cities and cultures across the Global North and Global South. Its interdisciplinary, cross-cultural analysis will be of interest to academics, students, policymakers and practitioners engaged with a range of subject areas, including urban design, urban planning, architecture, landscape, cultural studies, human geography, social policy, sociology and anthropology. It will also have significant appeal to a wider non-academic readership, given its topical subject matter.

This book examines how new dimensions of diversity and difference, so often debated in the national context, are emerging at the neighbourhood level.

The Education Committee conducts a forum on topical issues each year. This forum discussed some of the education problems facing European societies today: rising illiteracy rates; school dropouts and inadequately prepared school leavers; declining confidence in schools and other institutions; unequal access to education; pockets of gender inequality. Suggested measures to counteract these problems included: public-private partnerships, involving the business community and industry with schools; emphasis on social development rather than economic growth; promoting citizenship participation through curricula and the learning environment; education systems providing moral and ethical education and lifelong learning.