A new book examined the contemporary meaning of social exclusion. It said that the reality of social exclusion was not simply displayed in ghettos and sink estates: it could also be discerned in exclusive gated housing developments, in the 'non-places' of the shopping centre, in low-level service work, and in the uniformity of political parties.
Source: Simon Winlow and Steve Hall, Rethinking Social Exclusion: The end of the social?, SAGE Publications
Links: Summary
Date: 2013-Nov
A new book examined the history of effort to end poverty in the United Kingdom and asked whether it had been worthwhile. It said that poverty was costly, wasteful, and bore risks, and it outlined the need for a shared understanding of poverty to inform future eradication efforts.
Source: Julia Unwin, Why Fight Poverty?, London Publishing Partnership
Links: Summary
Date: 2013-Nov
A collection of essays was published, offering a range of opinions on poverty, its causes, and how to address poverty in the United Kingdom.
Source: Jonathan Derbyshire (ed.), Poverty in the UK: Can it be eradicated?, Prospect Publishing
Links: Report
Date: 2013-Nov
An article examined whether and how welfare generosity in European countries was related to the risk of social exclusion associated with combinations of poor health, low education, and economic inactivity. No indications were found of higher levels of non-participation among disadvantaged groups in more generous welfare states. On the contrary, resources made available by the welfare state seemed to matter to all individuals in terms of overall lower levels of non-participation. This demonstrated the importance of linking health-related social exclusion to the social policy context.
Source: Therese Saltkjel, Espen Dahl, and Kjetil van der Wel, 'Health related social exclusion in Europe: a multilevel study of the role of welfare generosity', International Journal for Equity in Health, Volume 12
Date: 2013-Sep
An article said that human rights debates had neglected social rights – in particular, the human right against social deprivation, which was both a condition for, and a constitutive part of, a minimally decent human life. Protection of this right was necessary to secure many less controversial human rights. 'Social deprivation' referred not to poverty, but to genuine, interpersonal, social deprivation as a persisting lack of minimally adequate opportunities for decent human contact and social inclusion. Such deprivation was endured not only in arenas of institutional segregation (such as by prisoners and patients held in long-term solitary confinement and quarantine) but also by persons who suffered less organized forms of persistent social deprivation.
Source: Kimberley Brownlee, 'A human right against social deprivation', The Philosophical Quarterly, Volume 63 Issue 251
Links: Abstract
Date: 2013-Aug
A paper examined the qualitative evidence base relating to the experience of poverty and social exclusion. It considered how low income, deprivation, and exclusion shaped the material and relational experiences of individuals and households; outlined the strategies that individuals and households deployed to adapt to or challenge their situation; and explored the processes of impoverishment and exclusion.
Source: Simon Pemberton, Eileen Sutton, and Eldin Fahmy, A Review of the Qualitative Evidence Relating to the Experience of Poverty and Exclusion, Working Paper – Methods Series 22, Poverty and Social Exclusion in the UK
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-Jun
A paper examined socio-economic exclusion in European countries, and its negative impact on economic development. It considered obstacles to gaining full and free access to education, professional healthcare, finance, and the labour market.
Source: Ewa Lechman, Socio-Economic Exclusion as a Hindrance of Economic Development: A comparative study for European countries, Working Paper Series A 9, Faculty of Management and Economics, Gdansk University of Technology (Poland)
Links: Paper
Date: 2013-May
A report drew on a large new dataset, Understanding Society, to explore the relationship between poverty and social participation (highlighted in the work of the sociologist Peter Townsend). Participation in society could be measured in terms of social relationships, membership of organizations, trust in other people, ownership of possessions, and purchase of services – all of which were lower among people with low incomes.
Source: Emanuele Ferragina, Mark Tomlinson, and Robert Walker, Poverty, Participation and Choice: The legacy of Peter Townsend, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Links: Report | Summary | Understanding Society press release
Date: 2013-May
A new book examined social abjection in contemporary Britain. It explored how particular groups of people were portrayed as revolting, and how they in turn revolted against their 'abject subjectification'. It drew on case studies – including 'chavs', asylum-seekers, Gypsies and Travellers, and the 2011 London riots – to consider the ways in which individuals negotiated restrictive 'neo-liberal ideologies of selfhood'; and how stigmatization and scapegoating were resisted through a variety of aesthetic and political strategies. It argued for a deeper psycho-social understanding of the role of representational forms in producing marginality, social exclusion, and injustice.
Source: Imogen Tyler, Revolting Subjects: Social abjection and resistance in neoliberal Britain, Zed Books
Links: Summary
Date: 2013-May