Social Cohesion in Europe: How the Different Dimensions of Inequality Affect Social Cohesion?
In this paper my concern is the analysis of the connection between social cohesion and social inequalities at European level. The paper is build around three main issues. The first one regards the definition and measurement of the concept of social cohesion. The second problem consists in the identification of the factors that shapes the overall level of social cohesion. Finally, the last issue is about the comparative analysis that will be introduced following the welfare regime approach. More specifically, the core of my work consists of two main hypotheses: the first one argues the existence of a direct negative association between economic inequality and social cohesion. The second one states that this connection is influenced by other factors which include the individuals’ position in the stratification system. Turning to the comparative analysis, I suppose that welfare state is relevant because it influences both the relationship between social class and economic inequality and the link between social cohesion and economic inequality. In the first case, it is consider as a set of formalised social policy arrangements that protects against the risks related to the uneven distribution of material rewards. In the second case, following the moral economy approach, welfare state institutions comprise also collective patterns of institutionalised solidarity and social justice beliefs. Data from the “European Quality of Life Survey” carried out by the European Foundation in 2003 have been analysed by means of structural equation models in order to obtain a measurement of social cohesion and in order to estimate the direct and indirect effects exerted by the different dimensions of inequalities.
Key words: Social cohesion, poverty, social class, welfare regimes, Europe.
Vergolini, L.