Social Inclusion Policies Research Articles

Development and Economy in Mongolia through a Human Rights Law Lens

Abstract This article studies the Mongolian economic and development policies implemented in recent years until March 2020, including its revenue matrix sustainability, from an international human rights law perspective. Policy and legal recommendations for discussion are also presented. Based on a United Nations mission the author conducted to Mongolia in 2019, this country study examines the macroeconomic policies, including debt issues, from a human rights perspective; the extent to which mineral rents are translated into inclusive and comprehensive social and environmental policies, focusing on the mining project Oyu Tolgoi; the impact of illicit financial flows on human rights; and the effects of lending for infrastructure and mining projects and other foreign direct investments. The study concludes that economic diversification and conducting effective gender-sensitive, participatory human rights and environmental impact assessments of economic reforms and mining and infrastructure projects are the main challenges Mongolia faces.

Understanding the ethnic inequality of the Thai Lao through perspectives on promoting social inclusion policy in Thailand in accordance with UN Sustainable Development Goal 10.2

ABSTRACT This article presents one of the first attempts to understand UN Sustainable Development Goal 10.2 (UNSDG 10.2) on reducing inequality as applied to a major ethnic minority community via a simultaneous application of three theoretical aspects of inclusion theory, itself an extension of social justice theory, i.e. via social, economic, and political inclusion. Thailand, recently under military rule for five years, experiences extreme differences in horizontal structural inequalities by ethnicity. These developmental differences, unacknowledged by the Thai state, nonetheless affect state-minority relations, particularly the relationship between the dominant Central Thai ethnic community and the Thai Lao (TL) ethnic community. The general policy prescription to address such inequalities by ethnicity is to promote greater inclusion, as in UNSDG 10.2. As the state does not properly recognise the TL, this is problematic. This study applied a novel theoretical framework to obtain and analyse opinions from ‘Establishment’ and ‘Local Government Officials’ (LGO) samples as to whether and how to promote greater inclusion.

Identity matters in the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages and its Companion Volume

ABSTRACT The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages has been a major influence on language teaching in Europe and beyond and its Companion Volume will probably have the same significance. It is important therefore that education professionals understand the underlying concepts, including the conceptualisation of the language user/learner. This article analyses the concept of learners' identities against the background of the Council of Europe's policy of social inclusion, which became significant between the dates of publication of the two documents. It demonstrates that the CEFR has a more nuanced and detailed concept of identity than the Companion Volume, and that the suggestion in the Companion Volume that teachers do not need to know the CEFR itself is problematic. The CEFR works with a concept of social and personal identity. The Companion Volume lacks such a concept, and an analysis of pluricultural competence in search of clarification of how a ‘pluricultural person' is conceptualised proves unsuccessful. The relationship between ‘pluricultural' and ‘plurilingual’ is not fully addressed in the CEFR, nor developed further in the Companion Volume. There is still a need for a rich description of the identities of learners and of the notion of pluricultural competence.

Gender differences in family support to older adults and implications for social work in south-east Nigeria

The increase in the number of older adults in Nigeria is a significant demographic trend, requiring adequate and sustainable attention. Usually, these older adults depend on family members for support due to increasing frailty and/or disengagement from the civil service or other income-earning pursuits. Studies that depict differences in gender vis a vis access to social support from family networks are limited. This study will attempt to contribute to filling this gap. Four focus group discussions and 16 in-depth interviews were conducted on a sample of (N = 56) older adults aged 70 years and above and their 23 to 46 year old family carers. The generated data were analysed in themes. Findings revealed no differences in access to health support by gender; however, females received more financial, emotional as well as material support, and were more involved in social activities than their male counterparts. This study will facilitate a better understanding of gender differences in social support for older adults in Nigeria. This could, in turn, inform inclusive social policies guided by social workers which have greater focus on the needs of older adults.

The Dominants of Contemporary Political Culture and the Transformation of Political Governance

Contemporary political governance is increasingly dependent on the trends of global globalization, changing in the context of global migration and constantly creating and changing multinational communities. This article aims to analyze the existing policies of social inclusion that form the basis of political culture, which plays a significant role in the system of modern political governance in the era of globalization. The aim of the paper is to substantiate the importance of changing the political space for creating a policy of diversity and inclusion, aimed at forming a modern political culture that meets the current trends in governance in the era of globalization. The major research issue of this paper is the question of which points of political culture are the most transformative for the modern political system. The article analyzes the dominant features of modern political culture, which should be paid attention to both in theoretical analysis and in making managerial decisions. The research method is an open-ended written expert survey — 23 experts took part in the survey; the volume of the material obtained as a result of the survey is 48,000 words. The analysis and processing of information was carried out using the methods of systematization, problem-management design and the method of identifying problem dominants. Expert interviews allowed us to identify a number of measures that the political authorities can take to strengthen the transformational potential of political culture. These include the creation of political initiatives and easily accessible opportunities for political integration; the development of an inclusive and tolerant society through the reallocation of resources to help various kinds of minorities, aimed at helping them understand and use their rights and responsibilities; and the development of creativity and innovation as the basis of a new type of political culture. The results of the analysis of expert interviews complement modern international research on the formation of a new political culture and its impact on the formation of the political system. As a result of the research, the author comes to the conclusion that modern political culture assumes controlled diversity, and this is the basis for the transformation of the political system in the near future. The main dominants of political culture are the strengthening of the importance of the local and, in particular, the strengthening of the importance of the urban environment; the development of the political culture of migrants; inclusiveness of political communities, especially at the local level.

Multiple Variable Social Distancing Model in Reducing COVID 19 Spreading: A Long Term Social Distancing Model in Developing Nations Like Bangladesh

Covid-19 pandemic requires strong and inclusive social distancing policies for the people. Governments around the world have taken policy steps and citizen were expected to behave accordingly. However, Countries like Bangladesh faced enormous difficulties and challenges to make people understand and obey them. There is variety of groups in the society among whom a few were respectful and some were negligent towards those social distancing policies. This study tried to find what makes them obey or disobey the prescribed pandemic behavior. This research found people over-confident, religiously blind, economically bound, poorly educated, doubtful to their government, impatient about the time frame of the lockdown and social distancing rules and so on. Additionally, sometimes government policies were proved to be incompatible with the rising situation.   Primary hypothesis of this study is, ``willingness of social distancing is a dependent variable where over-confidence, education, poverty, religion, public trusts are independent variables. Taking general policies like other natural disaster or calamities may not be as effective as it was before.’’ This pandemic is an event which needs an in-depth research, wider policy analysis and firm implementation. Here is a suggestion called `multiple variable social distancing model' which will study about the variables first and guide to a wider policy structure afterwards.

Bridging Caste Divides: Middle‐Status Ambivalence, Elite Closure, and Lower‐Status Social Withdrawal

AbstractNetwork theory and research have identified the powerful dynamic of homophily whereby individuals are more likely to connect with similar rather than dissimilar others. However, less is known about when individuals might connect with dissimilar others to enhance organizational diversity benefits and mitigate social exclusion. This study builds upon prior evidence linking homophily to both elite group closure and lower‐status self‐segregating social withdrawal to propose a new dynamic of middle‐status ambivalence toward homophily, generating a greater propensity toward diversity. Indian society offers a unique context of a legally codified, stable, three‐tiered status hierarchy to test the idea that middle‐status individuals will develop the most diverse networks. Using a unique longitudinal friendship network dataset, we find empirical support for our prediction, a novel contribution extending classic homophily theory. In addition, due to potent status dynamics we theorize and find that lowest‐status group members initiate more ties over time but also exhibit lower tie stability and greater losses of early ties than higher‐status group members, resulting in the appearance of lowest‐status group homophilous withdrawal. Overall, we advance homophily theory and offer practical suggestions for organizations seeking to enhance social ties across diversity and improve the effectiveness of social inclusion policies.

Social inclusion and collective skill formation systems: policy and politics

This thematic review essay focuses on the relationship between social inclusion and collective skill formation systems. It briefly surveys foundational literature in comparative political economy and comparative social policy that documented and explained the traditionally socially inclusive nature of these systems. It reviews how the literature conceptualized the current challenges faced by collective skill formation systems in upholding their inclusive nature in the context of the transition to post-industrial societies. It then discusses in detail a recent strand of literature that investigates the policy responses that have been deployed across countries to deal with these challenges. It concludes by providing heuristics that may be useful for researchers who seek to advance the study of the policy and politics of social inclusion in collective skill formation systems.

A PROMETHEE MCDM Application in Social Inclusion: The Case of Foreign-Born Population in the EU

Since the migrant surge in 2015, social inclusion has become a crucial issue to be addressed effectively by the European Union, given that 39% of the population born outside of the EU member states faces the risk of poverty or social exclusion. Adding to that, the COVID-19 pandemic has severely affected migrant households worldwide, rendering migrant integration an urgent matter for national governments. Discrimination, racism, xenophobia, and radicalization are all societal threats emerging in periods of massive migrant flows and need appropriate policy measures to be employed in migrant host countries to tackle them. This paper suggests the integration of a multiple criteria decision analysis method, namely PROMETHEE, for policy making with regard to migrant social exclusion. In light of previous research findings and the recent release of the Migrant Integration Policy Index 2020, the authors argue that the method proposed could help policy makers to evaluate the effectiveness of the implemented policies, spot the discrepancies between policies and policy outcomes, and motivate knowledge sharing among the EU member states. The findings include a ten-year comparative list of the EU member states (2010–2019) driven by social inclusion indicators for the foreign-born (non-EU-born) population. The results are rather sensitive to changes in the data utilized but they provide an overall comparative picture of social inclusion policy effectiveness in the EU during the past decade.

Researching belonging with people with learning disabilities: Self‐building active community lives in the context of personalisation

Accessible Summary We wanted to understand more about how people with learning disabilities are building active community lives to help belonging. We spoke to 39 people from 29 different support organisations, 7 local authority representatives and 43 people with learning disabilities. They said belonging was about having the time to connect with other people in “everyday” places, being part of a supportive network and having the right choice and information. Belonging is like a cake. It needs the right ingredients. These ingredients include the right combination of people, places and times. Because of cuts to funding, many people with learning disabilities lack the right support, choice and information to access their communities. This is not belonging. AbstractBackgroundThis journal article draws on findings from a research project that examined how people with learning disabilities and their allies were seeking to build a sense of belonging. We wanted to focus on the concept of “belonging” in the context of personalisation and reduced government social care funding. Specifically, we sought to understand how people with learning disabilities and their supporters were coming together to “self‐build” networks of support including friendship clubs and self‐advocacy groups to enable a greater sense of belonging in their local communities.MethodsQualitative interviews were conducted with seven local authority representatives across four case study areas in the UK, as well as 39 staff across 29 organisations providing a range of day and evening support and activities. We also talked to 43 people with learning disabilities across the four areas about their experiences.FindingsOur findings demonstrate how belonging involves a complex configuration of actors, places, times, relationships and institutional roles (much like the ingredients in a cake). The ways in which belonging intersects with agency and choice was also identified as an important and novel finding of our study.ConclusionWhile belonging is often presented to people as a desirable and realisable outcome of social inclusion policies, cuts in funding and a lack of appropriate support frustrate people's desires to meaningfully belong with other people in their local community. This demonstrates the importance of supporting social environments that meet people's needs for social connectedness and belonging.

European COVID -19 Pandemic Data and Social Inclusion Policy in the European Union: Drivers-Driven Trend Analysis

Abstract Research purpose. The study is focused on the Covid-19 pandemic crisis in the European Union. This study investigates the current driving trends and trade-offs of the Covid-19 pandemic phenomenon and social inclusion trends in the European countries. Design / Methodology / Approach. The methodology is based on conventional statistical index theory and statistics. The study investigates cases, deaths, and key Covid-19 statistics. The research design combines key social inclusion statistics of the Eurostat and the official Covid-19 statistics of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. Covid-19 data is updated to 1.3.2021. Social inclusion variables are selected from the Eurostat database. Social inclusion variables cover poverty, material deprivation, income distribution, income, quality of life, employment, and education matters. Scattering matrices on the relationships among the key variables under review are reported. Findings. The study reports basic trends of Covid-19 cases, deaths, deaths/cases and calculates these Covid-19 trends in 29 European countries. This study reports trade-off analyses of key social inclusion trends of the European Union countries. Key indicators are linked to economic income, income distribution, poverty, gender issues, and housing statistics. The 19 key indicators of social inclusion are analysed and reported with Covid-19 data. Statistical correlation analysis tables (2a and 2b) are calculated with key European social inclusion indicators. The study reveals some relevant aspects of the social inclusion policy of the European Union about the ongoing Covid-19 crisis and exit strategies. Originality / Value / Practical implications. This conference paper demonstrates novel and exciting possibilities of integrated data pooling (The Eurostat and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control). Original results of key trend drivers are provided by the authors. Value-adding and interesting results are delivered for European governments and the business community. Results and findings of the study can be used in the planning of economic recovery and Covid-19 exit policies in the member states of the European Union.

El reto de la inclusión social, más allá de la escuela: Tensiones y carencias de las políticas de integración de niñas y niños migrantes en España

A pesar del esfuerzo constante por promover la inclusión social de niños, niñas y jóvenes migrantes desde las políticas públicas y las prácticas escolares, este es un objetivo que estamos muy lejos de cumplir, en regiones de todo el mundo. En este artículo se presentan los resultados del análisis de 52 entrevistas individuales (a stakeholders, directores de escuelas y profesionales de la educación), 12 grupos de discusión (con docentes y familias) y 90 observaciones en escuelas. En los resultados se evidencian las carencias y las tensiones de las políticas públicas para la inclusión social, identificadas por creadores de políticas, equipos directivos, directores de ONG e investigadores de todo el país. El análisis revela que las políticas educativas dejan en manos de los centros toda una serie de retos que deben ser resueltos para promover la inclusión social del alumnado. Sin embargo, las escuelas no pueden hacerse cargo de muchos de estos retos, puesto que su resolución de los mismos no está a su alcance. El artículo señala cuestiones clave que deben abordarse desde las políticas urgentemente, especialmente en relación con la segregación inter e intraescolar, la gestión de recursos y la consolidación de una red de actores educativos sostenible y coordinada.

Indian Inclusion Efforts Relevance to Scavenger Community: A Cross-sectional Study in Haryana

Manual scavenging is a caste-based occupation (Shahid, 2015, Social Change, 45(2), 242–255). It involves the manual removal of human excreta from dry latrines and septic tanks (using basic tools such as tin boards, buckets and baskets lined with sacking) and then carrying it on the head or shoulder and disposing it away (Kumar, 2014, Scavenger community at the crossroads: Reflection on state intervention). Broadly, these people work in municipal corporation, railways, households, cleaning of open defecation area, industries and hotels where they deal with human and animal excreta. Dealing in sewerage and manholes, garbage loading and caring and cleaning animal carcass is also included in manual scavenging. Historically, the scavenger community is considered to be untouchable (Singh, 2014, Contemporary Voice of Dalit, 7(1), 81–94), because of lowest caste status and lowest occupational status. Their lowest social status made them to face exclusion in almost all domains in society. They are protected through constitutional rights in documents and are provided with some welfare services for their development. This study aims to understand the current status of social exclusion of scavenger community and usefulness of government inclusion policies on social and occupational status of scavenger community. This is a cross-sectional study, following mixed method research design. The study was conducted in four towns of Haryana: Ladwa, Kurukshetra, Indri and Radwar. The safai karamchari (sanitary workers) of municipalities from these four towns were selected as respondents. Data was collected through semi-structured interview and structured tool was used for assessing social exclusion. Here, the results show that all respondents ( safai karamchari) belong to Balmiki caste and all were Hindu by religion. Among them, 62% respondents were illiterate, more than 80% reported that this work was transferred from ancestors or lack of opportunity, and 98% reported no protective gears provided while working. Social exclusion found prevalent in almost all domains, while the face exclusion was in social, cultural, educational, occupational, political domains and accessing social services. The result shows that Indian policies for social inclusion fail in case of scavenger community. Therefore, this is matter of dealing for social work profession.

Pensamiento económico en las políticas de gestión tributaria desde el enfoque de la evasion fiscal en el Ecuador

A democratic and social rule of law, taxation is an instrument of society to achieve its own objectives, which must focus on economic and social development, to promote the productive, educational, and scientific sector; then tax management is the effective control mechanism based on the principles, the research aims to determine the relationship between economic thinking and taxpayers' perception of tax policy and tax evasion. The methodology used is a mixed approach, supported by the descriptive documentary study, based on the bibliographic and digital review, it should be noted how tax policies have had relevant results in reference to collection, which is consistent with economic thinking, because evidence in the years since 2000 the thought was neoliberal the collection is low, while from 2007 to 2016 with the revolutionary socialist thought there is an increase in the collection. On the other hand, new tax reforms are suggested by creating a tax equity law; which allows changes to improve tax revenue regardless of the political ideological thinking of the government in office; what is important is social equality with fiscal equity. Therefore, there must be a relationship between taxpayers with tax policies and tax evasion. This relationship must generate trust so that the country can develop and satisfy social inclusion policies and improve the quality of life through a new society with ethics and morals.

Putting down verbal and cognitive weaponry: the need for ‘experimental-relational spaces of encounter’ between people with and without severe intellectual disabilities

Social inclusion policies often assume that community integration is beneficial for all people with disabilities. Little is known about what actually happens in encounters between people with and without severe intellectual disabilities in the public space. Based on social-constructionist and responsive-phenomenological insights, we performed participant observation, semi-structured interviews and researcher reflexivity to study encounters between Harry (pseudonym), a man with a severe intellectual disability, his neighbours, fellow service-users, support professionals, and the first author. A thinking-with-theory strategy was adopted to interpret and deepen observations and reflections. We argue for more ‘experimental-relational spaces of encounter’ between people with and without severe intellectual disabilities, wherein the latter put down their verbal and cognitive weaponry. This proved to be more appropriate for spending ‘quality time’ with Harry then typical satisfactory neighbourhood interactions – often embedded in verbality, habits, routines and rationalizations that do not reflect the existence of people with severe intellectual disabilities. Points of interest An increasing number of people with severe intellectual disabilities live in homes in a neighbourhood setting. However, in everyday neighbourhood life people with and without severe intellectual disabilities hardly ever encounter each other in a way both of them like. The research shows that this lack of pleasant encounters can be related to powerful rules about how we should interact in the public space in the 21st century. In the neighbourhoods we studied, people without intellectual disabilities are in control of these rules. They prefer verbal and cognitive interactions in the public space. Non-verbal and less cognitive approaches are often seen as inappropriate. The research recommends that people without intellectual disabilities should open up for more fitting ways to communicate with people who cannot speak (for themselves).

Migrants in Chile: Social crisis and the pandemic (or sailing over troubled water…).

Chile has sailed in troubled waters in recent months. The effects of the social crisis at the end of 2019 were not yet fully evident, when the Covid-19 pandemic forced the government to take drastic measures to try to slow down the advance of the virus. The restrictions imposed on displacement, dynamic quarantines and the suspension of non-essential activities had a strong impact on the employment and economic conditions of the inhabitants of Chile, and more dramatically on the migrant population. This article aims to make visible the vulnerability and precariousness of the migrant population in Chile in this context of a pandemic, as well as the need to generate situated and inclusive social policies.

English

University education enables people to have better socio-economic return, engage in critical reflection of political affairs, social practices, and inequalities which subsequently strengthens democracy. The educational opportunities for disadvantaged people help them to break the vicious cycle of poverty, marginalization, and discrimination by enabling them to improve the social and economic status. The Government of Nepal has enacted the National Higher Education (HE) Policy, but it lags ensuring equitable opportunities for the marginalized community, particularly the Dalit community. Despite the constitutional commitment to provide equitable opportunities for educational development, Dalits who comprise above 13% population have been facing multitudes of exclusion in HE opportunities. Venanzi’s social exclusion perspective has been used to analyze the underrepresentation of Dalits in HE. The ethnocentrism-historically developed ethnic perspective manifested by the National Code of Conduct of Nepal in 1854; the discursive formation-micro-stories that explained the derogatory origin of Dalits and the hegemonic discourse-subtle form of power perpetrated by non-Dalit in system implementation curtail Dalit’s equitable participation in HE. Consequently, Dalits fail to move upward to the socioeconomic status which has impacted the overall development of the country. Mass advocacy and awareness campaign to deconstruct hierarchy-based caste system, data/evidence-based gender and social inclusion policy, increased participation of Dalits in decision-making positions, exploration of caste-related issues through periodic academic research and enactment of subsequent actions, inclusion of Dalit-related issues in HE curriculum, and arranging alternative education for geographically excluded Dalit community may enable Dalits to get HE. Key words: Equity, higher education, social exclusion, historicity, Dalit.

Politicile sociale în perioada post-criză financiară: România încotro? Contribuția Semestrului European în dirijarea măsurilor de politică socială în domeniile ocupării și incluziunii sociale

After implementing one of the toughest austerity programs in the European Union during the financial crisis, Romania returned to continuous economic growth for eight years (2012−2019), not before concluding between 2011−2013 two preventive agreements with Troika to reduce its macroeconomic imbalances. This continuous economic growth was also reflected in the achievement of the national targets under the Europe 2020 Strategy. In order to better coordinate economic and budgetary policies, the European Union has launched the European Semester. Although the main objective of the latter was to coordinate Member States' efforts to implement fiscal budgetary policies aimed at preventing macroeconomic imbalances and controlling public finances, after 2015, the European Semester began to incorporate social policy objectives, especially in the area of employment and social inclusion policies. By using the index of commodification/ decommodification of social policies developed by Paul Copeland, I illustrate, by analyzing the National Reform Programs and Country Specific Reports, that half of the policies taken in the two areas were towards partial commodification or commodification, and other significant measures towards commodification and decommodification, e.g. types of policies addressed to vulnerable groups trying to (re)integrate them into the labor market, even if in conditions that do not necessarily lead to social inclusion. Keywords: social policies; European Semester; Europe 2020; de/comodification; neoliberalism.

Climate Change and Innovation in Brazil- Threats and Opportunities

In recent decades, Brazil has adopted a political approach focused on maintaining economic stability and consolidating inclusive social policies. However, despite repeated attempts, little progress has been made in overcoming difficulties within the country and making Brazil more competitive in the global market. Nevertheless, there seems to be an awakening and a certain consensus among scholars of Brazilian problems that the expected inclusive economic growth cycle may be achieved if Brazil invests in enhancing the bioeconomy business environment through bioenergy and innovation. The actual crisis is fast–tracking two major transformations at the global level: the energy transition and the information revolution, both dependent on innovation. Brazil showcases a comparative advantage for renewable energy sources in comparison to the rest of the world. Even considering the controversial major use of hydroelectricity and sugarcane biofuels, these sources are undoubtfully less harmful than fossil sources, such as coal and diesel. This could be an unprecedented opportunity. Nevertheless, Brazil has faced considerable environmental disasters in recent years, despite its consistent legal framework protecting the environment. This paper advocates a legal pathway to disseminate knowledge and to reach sustainable growth by adopting decarbonization processes and innovation. By decarbonization processes, the authors mean the transition to a decarbonized economy by adopting innovative technological transformations that provide bioeconomy lead traditional manufacturers into renewable and sustainable industries. In relation to these processes, it is essential that decision makers, especially public officials in the national environmental and innovation agencies, understand the existing legal paths, modernize the instruments used for cooperation and the generation of new products with a focus on growth and competitiveness, and enforce environmental protection law and mechanisms. Regarding innovation, the premise is that the new cooperation instruments allowed by the legal framework of innovation will strengthen relations between public and private agents. This paper first presents the principles and main environmental and energy transition rules that comprise the current Brazilian legal framework. It then shows the contradictions that need to be overcome in the environmental system. Finally, the paper presents opportunities and proposals for change and improvement towards sustainable growth. and

INCLUSÃO SOCIAL NA/PELA MÍDIA: MODOS DE INSTALAÇÃO DO SUJEITO DEFICIENTE

The effervescence of these topics is done by reason of the adoption, in recent times, public policies of human dignity and social inclusion for people with disabilities or reduced mobility. That way, the present work has as its proposal to analyze, through images that circulated circulating in the media, the subject institution modes disabled, specifically the wheelchair and the deaf, through policies that are conspicuous by their dignity and inclusion of disabled person, proposed by the State. The theoretical analysis of the Discourse of materialistic line, initiated by Michel Pêcheux, in France, and expanded by Eni Orlandi, in Brazil. For analysis, we intend to show that the situation of dignity and inclusion of the handicapped guy going on before by a general education of society – the family, school and social media – it's task and responsibility of the State, since the operation of discourses and social practices determines, in the materials analyzed, the processes of inclusion and exclusion of disabled people, which, in their different ways to relate with the space and society, require not only of laws, but of social education for the full exercise of their dignity and their inclusion.