Social Exclusion and Social Capital Theories: Urban Areas

affectionate forcing out and Social Capital Theories urban AreasIntroductionThe idea of cordial exclusion, the forces indoors society which have contri moreovered to it, and results of fond exclusion argon all issues that have been described in the following foothold by Musterd, S and Ostendorf, W ((1998) p1)The excluded lose the opportunities, the means and finally the ability to participate in society, which is expressed by a lack of labour market participation, low school participation, a weak position in the housing market, limited authoritiesal participation and restricted socio-cultural integration1.Levitas, R (1998) has a slightly different view of affable exclusion and her views have been described in the following carriage The MUD moral underclass discourse is rooted in neo-conservatism. Levitas describes this discourse as equating friendly exclusion with the development of an underclass.2 Therefore, while at that place be those who question the very existence o f social exclusion problems ..the term does not necessarily imply either a positive or a negative state. It is simply a way of describing the established patterns of human relations in any given society.3, what the arguments of Levitas (1998) and Musterd, S and Ostendorf, W (1998) show is that social theorists have mapped an increasing trend within society which has entrenched wide gaps in the midst of social groups in terms of wealth and social status, and this trend has been discover particularly in regard to urban areas and in terms of low income families. Social exclusion has led to an explosion at both extreme ends of the socio-economic scale, with increases in ho utiliseholds that have a low income, daten to expand proportionally with increases in the amount of households with high income and skills that are highly sought after. Those at the bottom of the scale are frequently referred to as excluded and those at the top are those who benefit from social inclusion. The broad policy of redistri only ifive justice has been seen as a way to redress this socio-economic imbalance. Redistributive justice refers to a process whereby the political process encourages the distribution of property and wealth, by introducing systems such as taxation, which merchant ship channel wealth from the wealthy to the poor in society. This concept has been associated with Marxism, Socialism and Pluralism.Therefore, whether one accepts the discourse of an underclass propelling social exclusion, or whether one simply holds the view that social exclusion is mainly caused because of socio-economic reasons, it is field of honor to be seen that the UK government has recognised social exclusion as a problem which needs to be addressed in terms of policy. The effectiveness and gluiness of these policies is of course, open to interpretation and criticism and two government policies will be examined in this essay to highlight the problem of social exclusion and to critique the gov ernments response to it. Two specific policies have been chosen by the writer with which to use as a focal point in the get on discussion of the topic of social exclusion. The first policy is a policy called Programme for Partnership which is aimed at narrowing the gaps that social exclusion imposes with regard to those nutriment in urban areas of Scotland. The second scheme within the social capital and social exclusion area is the Tackling expulsion from Education scheme which proposes to see social exclusion as a problem which starts at an early age and which aims at improving the problems of social exclusion through the improvement of the education establishment in the UK.Urban and the CityFew tidy sum doubt that the problems of social exclusion emanate in a substantial way from city life hi grade and problems associated with deprived urban areas. This scenario can be seen to produce an underclass that live in these areas. As Martin (2004) has demonstrated underclasses, wh atever their construction are a point of intersection of post industrialisation. Martin arguesThere are various interpretations of the term underclass. Indeed, Bovenkerk (1984) and Mann (1992 in Mann 1999 150) argue that Murrays account of the underclass sounds remarkably like Marx and Engels accounts of the lumpenproletariat, and the term itself has been attributed to the work of the Swedish economic expert Gunnar Myrdal. According to Gans (1995 2) the underclass is a redefinition of an economic term originally introduced by Myrdal in 1963 to describe the workers being forced out of a new economy, in a flash oft called postindustrial..4Therefore the first chosen policy which will be discussed in regards to the urban and the city topic is one which is aimed at dissipating the problems of an urban underclass. The scheme has only recently been announced by government and it relates to urban regeneration in Scotland. The scheme itself has been entitled Programme for Partnership and it involves formulating ideas which will influence the pertinacious term lifestyles and opportunities of those living in deprived urban areas. This programme has held at its core the idea of regeneration partnerships which encourages a level of cohesion between agencies supercharged with the responsibility of dealing with the problems of social exclusion in urban Scotland. For example, through directing resources to target inequality in the healthcare system, the Programme for Partnership is intending to indirectly deal with the problems within the educational system such as low attainment which can be linked with poor health. This scheme in that respectfore has been aimed at reducing inter-related problems linked with city life which combine to produce what has been described as the horrible reality of being cut out of our credit-based, plastic throwaway economy5.Other initiatives which have have been borne from this Programme for Partnership initiative have been aimed at tack ling the problems associated with homelessness, which is another sign of social exclusion. What the Partnership initiative has recognised is that homelessness is not a singular problem which randomly befalls those it affects. Homelessness, a problem endemic in urban areas can often be associated with penury, low educational attainment, drugs, poor healthcare (particularly for the mentally ill) and family problems including abuse. Therefore, the government has formulated a new Code of Practice which encourages urban social service actors to develop strategies to deal with poverty which incorporate a holistic approach to dealing with the social problems that cause social problems, and not just isolated problems. The Cabinet Offices social exclusion unit and the Scottish Office work closely to supervise and to help implement the Programme for Partnership scheme. The Scottish Executive has recently been quoted as sayingPart of the social justice strategy is the.development of person-ce ntred services (and) involves the breaking down of the old vertical hierarchies, such as the historical division between the UK Benefits Agency and Employment Service, which have recently been merged6.Yet, rhetoric does not solve the problem of social exclusion, and this scheme may be of little use if its effectiveness cannot be measured and attuned to the fluid distribution of the problems of social exclusion in urban areas. There is a fundamental problem which arises when one attempts to swindle a broad problem with an inter-agency approach and this problem involves measuring the success and/or failure of the policy, and targeting appropriate solutions within this grey area. The resulting subterfuge may be of benefit to a government seeking reelection, but how far it has gone to reduce continuing problems associated with social exclusion in urban areas is difficult to see through the rising crime rates, the continuing problems of anti-social behaviour and rising poverty, problems which those in urban areas are particularly susceptible to.Social Capital and Social ExclusionAs we have seen earlier from the explanation of social exclusion provided by Musterd, S and Ostendorf, W (1998), the problem of social exclusion mainly affects those at the reject end of the socio-economic scale. The government has recognised that this problem in many ways reflects the way that poor children are treated in the education system. Statistics have suggested that there are links between a persons educational and social development and this is particularly true of those who enter the educational system from a deprived background. Commentators such as Archer (2003) have pointed to a core problem relating to social exclusion and the educational system .educational inequalities not only persist, but in some cases have increased7. Therefore the refreshful Labour government have recently launched the Tackling Exclusion from Education scheme, which is a scheme once again aimed at l ocal authorities and which encourages them to develop schemes aimed at improving literacy in young people and teenagers. This scheme therefore aims to facilitate the progression of young people within the education system and one of its objectives is to tackle problems associated with emotional and behavioral difficulties in young people, problems which contribute to the problems that have been described above in an urban context. Truancy is also a big issue in this regard and the Tackling Exclusion from Education scheme encourages local authorities to introduce pilot schemes within schools to look at alternatives to excluding children, and to improve attendance records. In this way the problem of failure in the educational system can be seen as a root cause of those problems described in the above urban and city section, as problems in school often persist into later life, and these problems can often be seen within cities.Linked with this Education initiative are schemes aimed at improving confidence among young people, and these schemes include out of hours activities which are funded by the issue Lottery. As Majors (2001) has argued, England is experiencing an education revolution. Few would deny that in the four years since the Labour government came to power they have made major advances in education and social inclusion.8. Yet, again, this scheme suffers from the same inadequacies as the later scheme. The difficulty again lies with separating rhetoric from success. While it is true that the problem of social exclusion can be tackled in the ways described above, it is not clear whether these schemes are actually effective, in light of the poor comparison Britain imbibes with other Western European educational systems. An intrinsic problem which has dogged other areas of political life is recognised as political spin. This New Labour propensity to blot out problems with spin has permeated the social sector as much as it has the political sector. This l eads to a problem of measurement and of recognition and the increasing inconsistency that can be seen from looking at what the government says it is achieving and reconciling this with poor educational attainment, truancy and other problems which afflict poor, young people in British state schools. cultureThis essay has looked at the idea of social exclusion both in urban areas and in terms of social capital. In many ways social exclusion, begs questions about the definition of freedom questions about redistributive justice which Marx and Engels have asked many years ago. Therefore, few could argue that the problems of social exclusion emanate in gargantuan part from industrialisation and this has been a theme of the essay. While Bashford and Strange (2003) have argued that new political imaginings of freedom (and)the invention of liberty as an inalienable in force(p)9 have improved the situations of many, the problem of social exclusion persists, as it argued by Rosenfeld and Tar dieu (2002) The very poor are fold out the social institution is shut in. Both live with a sense of defeat and mutual misunderstanding To the extent that there are overtures from either side, these seem doomed to failure and make no sense to the other side. Nothing is going on there are no surprises, no exchanges, no meeting points. There is no story to tell.10. Therefore government policy which aims to target these problems must address social exclusion, not just in terms of description, but in terms of effectual strategy which measures success and failure in a fair and unbiased way.BibliographyBooks and ArticlesArcher, L. et al. (2003) Higher Education and Social Class Issues of Exclusion and inclusion. Publisher RoutledgeFalmer. mail of Publication New York. Publication Year 2003.Bashford, A. and Strange, C. (2003) closing off sides and Practices of Exclusion. Publisher Routledge. Place of Publication New York. Publication Year 2003.Bollens, S. (2002) Urban Planning and Inte rgroup Conflict Confronting a Fractured Public Interest. Journal Title Journal of the American Planning Association. Volume 68. Issue 1. Page Number 22+.Johnson, M. (2001) It May Not Grab the Headlines, but Tackling Financial Exclusion Is Social Democracy in Action. Magazine Title New Statesman. Volume 130. Issue 4530. Publication Date March 26, 2001.Majors, R. (2001) Educating Our Black Children New Directions and Radical Approaches. Publisher RoutledgeFalmer. Place of Publication London. Publication Year 2001.Martin, S. (2004) Reconceptualising Social Exclusion A Critical Response to the Neoliberal Welfare Reform docket and the Underclass Thesis. Journal Title Australian Journal of Social Issues. Volume 39. Issue 1. Publication Year 2004. Page Number 79+.Musterd, S. and Ostendorf, W. (1998) Urban requisition and the Welfare State Inequality and Exclusion in Western Cities. Publisher Routledge. Place of Publication London. Publication Year 1998.Riddell, S. and Tett, L (2001) Educ ation, Social Justice, and Inter-Agency Working linked Up or Fractured Policy. Publisher Routledge. Place of Publication New York. Publication Year 2001.Rosenfeld, J. and Tardieu, B. (2002) Artisans of Democracy How Ordinary People, Families in Extreme Poverty, and Social Institutions Become ally to Overcome Social Exclusion. Journal Title Social Theory and Practice. Volume 28. Issue 3. Publication Year 2002.Internet SourcesThe Scottish Stationary Office (Undated) Social Exclusion in Scotland A Consultation Paper. Available athttp//www.scotland.gov.uk/library/documents1/socexcl.htm .United Nations Research Institute for Social Development. (1994) Social Integration Approaches and Issues. Available athttp//66.249.93.104/search?q= hive upcbPDnQ4TsgkJwww.unrisd.org/unrisd/website/document.nsf/ab82a6805797760f80256b4f005da1ab/510920da18b35a6880256b65004c6a7b/%24FILE/bp1.pdf+social+integrationhl=enct=clnkcd=17 .Anonymous (2002) Social Inclusion/Exclusion. Available athttp//66.249.93.104 /search?q=cacheaRXxsOaWPLkJwww.rwbsocialplanners.com.au/SOCIAL%2520INCLUSION.pdf+moral+underclass+discoursehl=enct=clnk.Footnotes1 p1. Musterd, S. and Ostendorf, W. (1998) Urban Segregation and the Welfare State Inequality and Exclusion in Western Cities. Publisher Routledge. Place of Publication London. Publication Year 1998.2 Anonymous (2002) Social Inclusion/Exclusion. Available atwww.rwbsocialplanners.com.au/SOCIAL%20INCLUSION.pdf+moral+underclass+discoursehl=enct=clnk.3 United Nations Research Institute for Social Development. (1994) Social Integration Approaches and Issues. Available athttp//66.249.93.104/search?q=cachecbPDnQ4TsgkJwww.unrisd.org/unrisd/website/document.nsf/ab82a6805797760f80256b4f005da1ab/510920da18b35a6880256b65004c6a7b/%24FILE/bp1.pdf+social+integrationhl=enct=clnkcd=17 .4p1. Martin, S. (2004) Reconceptualising Social Exclusion A Critical Response to the Neoliberal Welfare Reform Agenda and the Underclass Thesis. Journal Title Australian Journal of Social Is sues. Volume 39. Issue 1. Publication Year 2004. Page Number 79+.5Johnson, M. (2001) It May Not Grab the Headlines, but Tackling Financial Exclusion Is Social Democracy in Action. Magazine Title New Statesman. Volume 130. Issue 4530. Publication Date March 26, 2001.6p3. Riddell, S. and Tett, L (2001) Education, Social Justice, and Inter-Agency Working get together Up or Fractured Policy. Publisher Routledge. Place of Publication New York. Publication Year 2001.7 p2. Archer, L. et al. (2003) Higher Education and Social Class Issues of Exclusion and Inclusion. Publisher RoutledgeFalmer. Place of Publication New York. Publication Year 2003.8 Majors, R. (2001) Educating Our Black Children New Directions and Radical Approaches. Publisher RoutledgeFalmer. Place of Publication London. Publication Year 2001. Page Number 1.9 Bashford, A. and Strange, C. (2003) Isolation Places and Practices of Exclusion. Publisher Routledge. Place of Publication New York. Publication Year 2003. Page Number 3.10 Rosenfeld, J. and Tardieu, B. (2002) Artisans of Democracy How Ordinary People, Families in Extreme Poverty, and Social Institutions Become consort to Overcome Social Exclusion. Journal Title Social Theory and Practice. Volume 28. Issue 3. Publication Year 2002. Page Number 519+.