Comments on David Phillips: Social Cohesion and the Sustainable Welfare Society. Deborah Mitchell Australian National University

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Comments on David Phillips Social Cohesion and
the Sustainable Welfare Society.Deborah
Mitchell Australian National University
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Social cohesion or social homogeneity?

• Very difficult concept to operationalise.
• Dark side to social cohesion where a drive for
  cohesion may result in a drive for
  cultural/ethnic homogeneity
• Social cohesion elephant in the room - great
  unspoken
• In many Asian countries there are significant
  ethnic populations that are invisible in social
  policy eg mountain peoples of Thailand, Myanmar,
  Viet Nam
• Applies equally to Australia - indigenous
  population
• Asian SQ agenda Indicators need to reflect the
  presence and position of these minority
  populations.

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Globalisation social cohesion

• Globalisation has given rise to large population
  movements in search of work and improvement in
  living standards. Societies are becoming more
  diverse multi-cultural, multi-ethnic.
• Big question is how do we reflect this diversity
• Are there shared identities, values and norms?
• Is a society less cohesive if the norms are not
  shared?
• Controversial example, from Australia - but which
  applies elsewhere in Asia - the social divisions
  appearing between Islamic and non-Islamic
  communities.
• From this perspective, tolerance integration
  identity become problematic. Whose norms? Whose
  values?