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  • A case of declining social cohesion: Italy in the new century
  • Antonio M. Chiesi (bio)

1. Social Cohesion, a Multidimensional Concept

Since the very beginning of the sociological tradition, terms like solidarity, social integration and social cohesion have been extensively used, being at the centre of the answer to the classical question “how society is possible?” (Simmel, 1903). The recent success of the latter term and a relative decline in the use of the formers has been explained by two main reasons (Chiesi, 2004):

  • –. compared with “solidarity” and “integration,” “cohesion” has been used in the political debate as an entirely positive concept, while solidarity may provoke hostility towards other and integration can sometimes be accomplished against the will of people involved. This is why the European Union has adopted the term cohesion in its strategic programmes;

  • –. while in the literature solidarity and integration can be seen as both states of society and as processes,1 social cohesion has been so far mainly used to depict a state of society, although the contribution by Forsé and Parodi (2009) in this issue shows clearly that cohesion can be also theorised as a process. If we consider the three concepts as states, their similarities are stressed, whereas when they are conceived as processes, solidarity and integration refer also to mechanisms. The advantage of considering these concepts as states is that their measurement is made easier by the identification of empirical indicators. Accordingly, in the recent European literature we find [End Page 37] substantial applications of empirical indicators related to the term “cohesion.”

The starting assumption of this essay is that social cohesion is a state that affects both society as a whole at the macro level and individuals in their reciprocal relations at the micro level. If we view society as a system, we can broadly identify structural as well as cultural dimensions present at both the macro and the micro levels. The structural dimensions relate to the organization of the various institutions that perform the main functions required for the reproduction of society (Parsons and Smelser, 1964), but also the stable relations among individuals in their everyday activities. The cultural dimensions are present at the micro level as socialization processes and at the macro level as shared practices, visions and values which involve the mass media.

This analytical approach yields four different dimensions of social cohesion (Chiesi, 2004):

  1. a. the structural level. This pertains to social inclusion and exclusion, opportunities for access to different social milieus, the degree of social mobility and division of labour, the inequality structure and even geographical divisions.

  2. b. The cultural level. This pertains to the extent to which norms and beliefs are shared, as well as languages (cultural diversity).

  3. c. The identity level. This pertains to the strength of sentiments like community belonging, the recognition and rejection of different groups, and the level of tolerance. Although this dimension can be seen as part of the cultural dimension, it should be kept separate from it because of its importance in determining the quality of cohesion in a given society.

  4. d. The action level. This pertains to the choices of individual actors, like the extent of their social participation in collective activities, and involvement in associations, social interaction and connections in general within their communities or with others in an anonymous metropolis.2

It is possible to fill most of these dimensions on the basis of empirical indicators drawn from international statistics already [End Page 38] available at the national and at the regional level, in order to compare Italy with other countries and to assess the specificities of the case.

2. An Application to the Italian Case

During the long period of modernization that lasted almost half a century after WW2, the Italian society has experienced an increasing social cohesion due to the introduction of an inclusive welfare system, the persisting centrality of the family as the most important institution that keeps important functions not only in the reproductive sphere, but also in the economy (Martinelli and Chiesi, 2002). According to some authors, social capital has also been increasing, although unevenly across regions (Putnam, 1993; Cartocci, 2007).

This long period of social cohesion has been accompanied by two...

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