‘E-stablishing’ an Inclusive Society? Technology, Social Exclusion and UK Government Policy Making

2002 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
NEIL SELWYN
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Policy Framework ◽  
Critical Perspective ◽  
Policy Statements ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Industrialised Countries ◽  
Inclusive Society

In many industrialised countries information and communication technology (ICT) is now being seen as a ready means through which governments can address issues of social exclusion. Indeed, in the UK this perspective has been quickly translated into a multi-billion pound policy agenda aimed at using ICT for socially inclusive purposes. Yet, beyond rhetorical concerns over bridging the perceived ‘digital divide’ and alleviating disparities between the information ‘rich’ and ‘poor’, little critical consideration has been given to how technology is being used by governments to achieve socially inclusive aims. This paper therefore examines the UK government’s ICT-based social policy drive through official documentation, policy statements and political discourse – considering the ‘problems’ that it sets out to address, the substance of the policies, and the perceived rationales and benefits for doing so. Having explored the official construction of these policies, the paper then examines how well founded this policy framework is in terms of achieving its stated aims of widening access to ICT and effectively facilitating ‘social inclusion’. The paper concludes by developing a critical perspective of such ICT policies which reveals deeper economic rationales informing this ostensibly ‘social’ policy programme.

Social Exclusion and Transport in the UK: A Role for Virtual Accessibility in the Alleviation of Mobility-Related Social Exclusion?

2003 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 317-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
SUSAN KENYON ◽  
JACKIE RAFFERTY ◽  
GLENN LYONS
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Causal Link ◽  
Public Consultation ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Physical Mobility ◽  
Viable Solution ◽  
Virtual Mobility ◽  
The Uk

This paper reports findings from research into the possibility that mobility-related social exclusion could be affected by an increase in access to virtual mobility – access to opportunities, services and social networks, via the Internet – amongst populations that experience exclusion. Transport is starting to be recognised as a key component of social policy, particularly in light of a number of recent studies, which have highlighted the link between transport and social exclusion, suggesting that low access to mobility can reduce the opportunity to participate in society – a finding with which this research concurs. Following the identification of this causal link, the majority of studies suggest that an increase in access to adequate physical mobility can provide a viable solution to mobility-related aspects of social exclusion.This paper questions the likelihood that increased physical mobility can, by itself, provide a fully viable or sustainable solution to mobility-related aspects of social exclusion. Findings from both a desk study and public consultation suggest that virtual mobility is already fulfilling an accessibility role, both substituting for and supplementing physical mobility, working to alleviate some aspects of mobility-related social exclusion in some sectors of society. The paper incorporates an analysis of the barriers to and problems with an increase in virtual mobility in society, and concludes that virtual mobility could be a valuable tool in both social and transport policy.

Ethical Appraisal of the Role of Civil Society in Nigeria

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 23-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Essien D. Essien
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Contemporary Literature ◽  
Civil Society Organizations ◽  
Significant Implication ◽  
Civil Society Organisations ◽  
Inclusive Society

Contemporary studies surrounding the creation of civil society in Africa have revealed two important findings. First, despite the effort of civil society organizations in supporting inclusive democratic governance, promoting participation, advocating for transparency and accountability, sustainable development and stability remain elusive due to the challenges of social exclusion. Second, institutions central to the exercise of governmental powers exhibit inefficiency, weakness, lack transparency, and low credibility which worsen extreme poverty, inequality, and deprivation. Drawing upon extensive contemporary literature on social exclusion and inclusive growth, this study examines the role of civil society organisations as a pathway for social inclusion and sustainable development. Findings reveal that the management and distribution of services in the Nigerian society is largely inefficient and exclusionary, leading to myriad of social problems. This study has a significant implication for cumulative research on the subject of inclusive society and sustainable development.

Participation or Pathology: Contradictory Tensions in Area-Based Policy

2004 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 87-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pete Alcock
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Government Policy ◽  
Service Provision ◽  
Central Feature ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Policy Practice ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Uk

This paper discusses some of the tensions revealed in the development and implementation of recent area-based approaches to social policy in England. Such programmes are now a central feature of Government policy practice, although similar programmes have been developed in the past in the UK and other welfare capitalist countries. They reflect concerns to combat social exclusion and ‘join-up’ service provision. They are also evidence of a shift towards more agency based policy practice – from ‘top-down’ to ‘bottom-up’ planning. Thus participation of citizens is a key element in all programmes. Some of the problems of securing such participation are discussed, including in particular the tendency for expectations of participation to lead to pathological interpretations of the causes of (and solutions too) social exclusion.

scholarly journals Supporting a Design Driven Approach to Social Inclusion and Accessibility in Transport

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 7-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Russell Marshall ◽  
Steve Summerskill ◽  
Keith Case ◽  
Amjad Hussain ◽  
Diane Gyi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Software Design ◽  
Public Transport ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Design Tool ◽  
Transport Infrastructure ◽  
Diverse Populations ◽  
User Group ◽  
The Uk

This paper presents research into the area of public transport and accessibility, addressing the support of practitioners in achieving socially inclusive solutions to the mobility issues of diverse populations. For decades, social policy has been underpinned by a stereotyping of populations into simplified sub groups: old, young, disabled, etc. and thus solutions often fail to properly address the richness of human variability. These shortcomings are often ‘managed’ through the ability for people to adapt, however, this is not a sustainable way in which to build a socially inclusive transport infrastructure. A software design tool called HADRIAN is presented. This tool provides a means to evaluate designs for their physical inclusiveness through the use of a virtual user group. This virtual user group is the embodiment of over 100 people that can be used to assess an existing or proposed design and to gain an understanding of what may be done to improve its accommodation. A case study exploring the use of the tool is described together with work in exploring the correlation of the individuals within the HADRIAN system with data on the UK population as a whole and how the inclusion or exclusion of individuals with specific characteristics can be used to inform a more representative view of the inclusiveness of a design.

scholarly journals Social Exclusion and Austerity Policies in England: The Role of Sports in a New Area of Social Polarisation and Inequality?

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 5-18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike Collins ◽  
Rein Haudenhuyse
Keyword(s):  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Sport Participation ◽  
Sports Participation ◽  
Leisure Sports ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Socially Excluded

Poverty still counts as the core of social exclusion from sport and many other domains of people’s lives. In the first part of this paper, we shortly describe the recent poverty trends in England, and identify groups that are more at-risk of being poor and socially excluded. We then focus on the relationship between poverty, social exclusion and leisure/sports participation, and describe a case study that addresses young people’s social exclusion through the use of sports (i.e., <em>Positive Futures</em>). Although further analysis is warranted, it would seem that growing structural inequalities (including sport participation)—with their concomitant effects on health and quality of life—are further widened and deepened by the policy measures taken by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition in the UK. In addition, within a climate of austerity, sport-based social inclusion schemes are likely to become wholly inadequate in the face of exclusionary forces such schemes envision to combat.

Combatining Income and Wealth Inequality, Racial Discrimination, and Social Exclusion in the United States

2020 ◽  
pp. 182-215
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Income Inequality ◽  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Wealth Inequality ◽  
The United States ◽  
Shared Value ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Policy Measures

Inequality has increased significantly in the United States during the last three decades. Growing inequality has become a shared value among political actors. Inequality has become problematic and a threat to values of citizens and even the conservatives in U.S. The chapter, therefore, examines the trends in income inequality between 1920s and 2010 and the trends in income inequality between 1979 and 2017. It also focuses on wealth inequality, realities of income inequality at sub-national levels, and income equality along racial and ethnic lines with a specific focus in the years 2007-2016. Also, inequality and social inclusion and social policy measures are discussed.

Combating Income and Wealth Inequality, Racial Discrimination, and Social Exclusion in the United States

2021 ◽  
pp. 118-144
Author(s):  
Augustine Nduka Eneanya
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Income Inequality ◽  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Wealth Inequality ◽  
The United States ◽  
Shared Value ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Policy Measures

Inequality has increased significantly in the United States during the last three decades. Growing inequality has become a shared value among political actors. Inequality has become problematic and a threat to values of citizens and even the conservatives in U.S. The chapter, therefore, examines the trends in income inequality between 1920s and 2010 and the trends in income inequality between 1979 and 2017. It also focuses on wealth inequality, realities of income inequality at sub-national levels, and income equality along racial and ethnic lines with a specific focus in the years 2007-2016. Also, inequality and social inclusion and social policy measures are discussed.

Working Outside the Box: Community Currencies, Time Banks and Social Inclusion

2004 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
GILL SEYFANG
Keyword(s):  
Social Capital ◽  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Informal Employment ◽  
Voluntary Work ◽  
Local Exchange ◽  
Community Currencies ◽  
Formal Employment ◽  
The Uk

A conceptual framework is developed for analysing UK social policy with respect to work, employment, inclusion and income. A range of possibilities for ‘productive engagement in work’ (PEW) outside the home are identified, ranging from formal employment, through informal employment, working for local community currencies, to unpaid voluntary work, each attracting particular policy responses, according to the hegemonic discourse of social exclusion, namely a liberal individualistic model which sees insertion into the labour market as the solution to exclusion. A new initiative is examined which is increasingly being adopted by local authorities in their efforts to tackle social exclusion and build social capital, namely ‘time banks’: a type of community currency which rewards people in time credits for the work they put into their neighbourhoods. Time banks are found to occupy a space in between what is already known about informal employment, LETS (Local Exchange Trading Schemes) and volunteering, raising a number of issues for policy makers and practitioners. While time banks may be promoted within the UK government's social inclusion remit as a means of increasing job-readiness through volunteering, they have wider and deeper implications. They represent a response to a radical social democratic understanding of social exclusion and hence exert a collective effort to redefine what is considered ‘valuable work’, and thus present an alternative to hegemonic paradigms of work and welfare; their greatest potential is as a radical tool for collective social capital building, resulting in more effective social, economic and political citizenship, and hence social inclusion. Policy recommendations are made to enable time banks to flourish and provide a powerful tool for achieving social inclusion objectives.

scholarly journals Solidarity Economy Reintegration Entities in Warmia and Mazury

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-86
Author(s):  
Majka Łojko
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Solidarity Economy ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Disabled ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Vocational Reintegration

The aim of the paper is to present solidarity economy reintegration entities and to analyse the actions they undertake for labour market reintegration and social inclusion of people at risk of social exclusion and for social and vocational rehabilitation of the disabled in the Warmia and Mazury region. The paper provides a review of the literature on the subject, based on an analysis of data from public statistics published by Statistics Poland, current studies of the Regional Centre of Social Policy in Olsztyn and scientific studies dedicated to the field of the social and solidarity economy. The analysis has revealed that all solidarity economy entities operating in the region are focused on taking comprehensive measures aimed at counteracting social exclusion and promoting social and vocational reintegration of people who, for various reasons, are not able to perform their social and professional roles independently and effectively.

e-Prisons and New Technologies

2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
María Barreiro-Gen ◽  
Isabel Novo-Corti ◽  
Laura Varela-Candamio
Keyword(s):  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Quantitative Study ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Prison Population ◽  
Population Group ◽  
Significant Part ◽  
Knowledge And Attitudes ◽  
Attitudes Toward Learning ◽  
Information And Communication

The development of new technologies of information and communication (ICT) is creating a new group at risk of social exclusion: digital illiterates. This factor can be accumulated with other causes of exclusion, greatly complicating the full social inclusion. This is the case of a significant part of the prison population group in which the authors focused their study. The authors’ work presents a quantitative study on the prison population in Galicia (Spain). The authors have analyzed their knowledge and attitudes toward learning to use new technologies, concluding that it would be necessary to implement courses to help familiarize this group with the use of computers, since most do not have much knowledge in this area, to prevent isolation of the “communication society”.

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