Social Cohesion and Development

• Published in: Perspectives on Global Development 2012 pp. 51 - 63
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Paris OECD Publishing 21.11.2011
• Series: Perspectives on Global Development
• ISBN: 9264113142; 9789264113145
• ISSN: 2222-4467; 2222-4475
• DOI: 10.1787/persp_glob_dev-2012-6-en

A society is “cohesive” if it works towards the well-being of all its members, fights exclusion and marginalisation, creates a sense of belonging, promotes trust, and offers its members the opportunity of upward social mobility. As such, this report looks at social cohesion through three different, but equally important, lenses: social inclusion, social capital and social mobility. The measurement of these dimensions should not only involve traditional measures, such as 1.25 dollar-a-day poverty, but should integrate subjective measures such as people’s perception about their own feelings as well. Social cohesion is both a means to development and an end in itself and is shaped by a society’s preferences, history and culture. Shifting wealth provides new opportunities and risks for the development of social cohesion in emerging economies – addressing them requires a holistic policy approach, particularly in the areas of fiscal, employment and social policies.