Theoretical Foundations

Abstract

The conceptual framework of social quality has been a project in development for more than a decade. The most recent phase and, we trust, the final one was prompted by the European Network on Indicators of Social Quality (ENIQ). The participants were faced with many unresolved theoretical questions about the social quality approach and its methodologies and methods. With the application of the first social quality indicators in 14 European countries (ENIQ, 2005a–p) ENIQ made many proposals to try to answer these questions (Gordon et al., 2005). By answering questions raised by ENIQ and, since 2006, by Asian researchers who participated in the first four Asian conferences on social quality and the Asian Research Group on Indicators of Social Quality (ARIQ, 2007a–g), we were forced to reconsider the ontological orientation of social quality (Van der Maesen, 2009b). The clarifications concerning ontology and epistemology in this and the following chapters emphasise the distinct character of social quality. As explained in Chapter 1, the recent rationale of the social quality approach and this chapter represent the search for a useful contribution to a meta-theoretical integration of the economic, socio-political, cultural and environmental dimensions of sustainability and the related policies and practices. This, we hope, will assist in approaching one of the most important global challenges, sustainability, in a comprehensive way.