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

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.

2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria F. Burns ◽  
Jean-Pierre Lavoie ◽  
Damaris Rose

Objective. To explore how older people who are “aging in place” are affected when the urban neighbourhoods in which they are aging are themselves undergoing socioeconomic and demographic change.Methods. A qualitative case study was conducted in two contrasting neighbourhoods in Montréal (Québec, Canada), the analysis drawing on concepts of social exclusion and attachment.Results. Participants express variable levels of attachment to neighbourhood. Gentrification triggered processes of social exclusion among older adults: loss of social spaces dedicated to older people led to social disconnectedness, invisibility, and loss of political influence on neighbourhood planning. Conversely, certain changes in a disadvantaged neighbourhood fostered their social inclusion.Conclusion. This study thus highlights the importance of examining the impacts of neighbourhood change when exploring the dynamics of aging in place and when considering interventions to maintain quality of life of those concerned.


2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 284-297
Author(s):  
Yinghao Wu ◽  
Jing Jiang

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to take the perspective of repairing the negative effect of social exclusion, discussing how anthropomorphized brand role (partner vs servant) releases the negative effect of social exclusion. Design/methodology/approach In this research, two behavioral studies are conducted. Study 1 uses a one-factor (social exclusion vs social inclusion) between-subjects design. The purpose of Study 1 is to test the effect of social exclusion on consumers’ WTP for the anthropomorphized brand (H1). Study 2 uses a 2 (self-esteem (SE): high vs low) × 2 (anthropomorphized brand role: servant vs partner) between-subjects design. The aim of Study 2 is to investigate that after being socially excluded, how anthropomorphized brand roles (servant vs partner) and SE interactively release individuals’ negative feelings (H2a and H2b) and how the need for control recovery mediates this interaction effect (H3). Findings This study proposes that when individuals are socially excluded, they are willing to pay more for anthropomorphized brands than those who are not because anthropomorphized brands provide a quasi-social relationship. This study further posits that socially excluded consumers prefer the different role of anthropomorphized brands, given a different level of SE to meet their needs for control recovery. High self-esteem (HSE) (vs low self-esteem (LSE)) consumers are willing to pay more for a servant-like brand because such brands help them recover from low control by regaining a master role. In contrast, HSE and LSE consumers have no significant differences in WTP for a partner-like brand. Originality/value Few research studies have discussed how social exclusion influences individuals’ WTP. To fill this gap, the authors used WTP as the dependent variable, showing that after being socially excluded, individuals tend to pay a higher price for the anthropomorphized brand. Also, the research not only adds a contribution to research on the need for control recovery but also indicates how HSE vs LSE individuals behave differently in socially excluded contexts.


Author(s):  
José David Gutiérrez

El artículo analiza, a partir del caso de estudio de asentamientos chabolistas en Madrid y Barcelona, la población Rrom que ubicándose en la periferia de dichas ciudades malvive en condiciones de pobreza y exclusión social. Basándose en una investigación de corte cualitativo donde se aprecian similitudes en cuanto a los medios de subsistencia empleados por el colectivo, así cómo la movilidad constante tanto en España como en Europa, el artículo se interroga el papel que tienen las administraciones públicas a nivel local y regional en la búsqueda de soluciones que permitan una mayor inclusión social y mejoras en la calidad de vida. Mediante una comparativa de los asentamientos, esta investigación presenta la experiencia profesional desarrollada en asentamientos con altos niveles de exclusión social donde se pone de relieve, la necesidad de intervenir socialmente desde el Trabajo Social y además, bajo una armonización de protocolos de atención social a la población Rrom desde una perspectiva igualitaria dentro de la Unión Europea, debido sobre todo a las prácticas similares de subsistencia de la población y por compartir procesos de exclusión y pobreza desde origen. The article analyzes, based on the case study of shanty towns in Madrid and Barcelona, the Rrom population, which is located on the periphery of these cities, lives in conditions of poverty and social exclusion. Based on qualitative research where similarities can be seen in terms of livelihoods used by the collective, as well as constant mobility both in Spain and in Europe, the article questions the role of public administrations at local and regional level in the search for solutions that allow greater social inclusion and improvements in the quality of life. Through a comparison of the settlements, this research presents the professional experience developed in settlements with high levels of social exclusion where it is highlighted, the need to intervene socially from Social Work and also, under a harmonization of social care protocols to the Rrom population from an egalitarian perspective within the European Union, mainly due to the similar practices of subsistence of the population and for sharing processes of exclusion and poverty from origin.


2014 ◽  
Vol 36 (8) ◽  
pp. 1151-1167 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Adkins ◽  
Donna Hancox

This article examines the case of the Forgotten Australians as an opportunity to examine the role of the internet in the presentation of testimony. ‘Forgotten Australians’ are a group who suffered abuse and neglect after being removed from their parents – either in Australia or in the UK – and placed in Church- and State-run institutions in Australia between 1930 and 1970. The campaign by this profoundly marginalized group coincided with the decade in which the opportunities of Web 2.0 were seen to be diffusing throughout different social groups, and were considered a tool for social inclusion. We outline a conceptual framework that positions the role of the internet as an environment in which the difficult relationships between painful past experiences and contemporary injunctions to remember them, are negotiated. We then apply this framework to the analysis of case examples of posts and interaction on websites with web 2.0 functionality: YouTube and the National Museum of Australia. The analysis points to commonalities and differences in the agency of the internet in these two contexts, arguing that in both cases the websites provided support for the development of a testimony-like narrative and the claiming, sharing and acknowledgement of loss.


2008 ◽  
Vol 6 (S1) ◽  
pp. 21-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Gray

Water supply companies in the UK have a duty under prime UK legislation to notify the Drinking Water Inspectorate of events affecting or potentially affecting the quality of drinking-water supplies. Under the same legislation, the Inspectorate has a duty to investigate each event. After assessing all of the information available, including companies' reports, the Inspectorate advises on the way in which the event was handled and whether any statutory requirements were contravened. If appropriate, a prosecution of the water company may be initiated. Copies of the assessment are sent to the water company, relevant local and health authorities, Ofwat (the economic regulator), the regional Consumer Council for Water and any other interested parties, including consumers who request it. Generic guidance may be issued to the industry on matters of wider concern. This paper considers the role of the Inspectorate, the powers available to it and reporting arrangements. An overview is presented of events that occurred between 1990 and 2005 and common features are identified. Causes of different types of event are discussed. The importance of well-established contacts between the various interested parties involved in protecting public health is emphasised through discussion of example incidents.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nando Sigona ◽  
Jotaro Kato ◽  
Irina Kuznetsova

AbstractThe article examines the migration infrastructures and pathways through which migrants move into, through and out of irregular status in Japan and the UK and how these infrastructures uniquely shape their migrant experiences of irregularity at key stages of their migration projects.Our analysis brings together two bodies of migration scholarship, namely critical work on the social and legal production of illegality and the impact of legal violence on the lives of immigrants with precarious legal status, and on the role of migration infrastructures in shaping mobility pathways.Drawing upon in-depth qualitative interviews with irregular and precarious migrants in Japan and the UK collected over a ten-year period, this article develops a three-pronged analysis of the infrastructures of irregularity, focusing on infrastructures of entry, settlement and exit, casting a comparative light on the mechanisms that produce precarious and expendable migrant lives in relation to access to labour and labour conditions, access and quality of housing and law enforcement, and how migrants adapt, cope, resist or eventually are overpowered by them.


Author(s):  
Nathalie Huegler ◽  
Natasha Kersh

AbstractThis chapter focuses on contexts where public discourses regarding the education of young adults have been dominated by socio-economic perspectives, with a focus on the role of employment-related learning, skills and chances and with active participation in the labour market as a key concern for policy makers. A focus on ‘employability’ alone has been linked to narrow conceptualisations of participation, inclusion and citizenship, arising in the context of discourse shifts through neoliberalism which emphasise workfare over welfare and responsibilities over rights. A key critique of such contexts is that the focus moves from addressing barriers to participation to framing social inclusion predominantly as related to expectations of ‘activation’ and sometimes, assimilation. Key target groups for discourses of activation include young people not in education, employment or training (‘NEET’), while in- and exclusion of migrant and ethnic minority young people are often framed within the complex and contradictory interplay between discourses of assimilation and experiences of discrimination. These developments influence the field of adult education aimed at young people vulnerable to social exclusion. An alternative discourse to ‘activation’ is the promotion of young people’s skills and capabilities that enables them to engage in forms of citizenship activism, challenging structural barriers that lead to exclusion. Our chapter considers selected examples from EduMAP research in the UK, the Netherlands and Ireland which indicate that as well as framing the participation of young people as discourses of ‘activation’, adult education can also enable and facilitate skills related to more activist forms of citizenship participation.


Author(s):  
Lilian Otaye ◽  
Wilson Wong

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the contours of fairness by showing how different facets of fairness impact three important employee outcomes (job satisfaction, turnover intention and employer advocacy) and examining the mediating role of quality of management and leadership (through perceptions of both senior management and the quality of exchange with immediate supervisors) in attenuating negative impacts of unfairness on these outcomes. The study extends the concept of fairness beyond the traditional focus on organizational justice and models the mediating role of leadership on the relationship between (un)fairness and the three employee-level outcomes in a sample of employees representative of the UK workforce. Design/methodology/approach – Data were obtained from a nationally representative sample of 2,067 employees in the UK. Exploratory factor analysis and then confirmatory factor analysis is used to refine three unfairness factors and address their dimensionality of the unfairness scale and then multiple regression analysis is used to test a fairness-leadership-employee performance outcome model. Findings – Results of multiple regression analysis revealed that both trust in leadership and leader-member exchange partially mediate the relationship between organizational (un)fairness and job satisfaction, advocacy and turnover intention, respectively. Practical implications – The findings highlight the important role that leaders play in influencing the relationship between perception of unfairness and employee outcomes. This has implications for both theory and practice as it suggests that the pattern of inclusion that leaders create through the relationships that they develop with their followers has a significant impact on the relationship between unfairness and the work outcomes. They not only must manage traditional perceptions of justice, but also the assessments employees make about trust in management judgements and the perceived consequences of such judgements. Originality/value – In an environment where perceptions of unfairness are becoming both more endemic but also more complex, the study shows that both senior leaders and immediate supervisors have important agency in managing negative consequences. Through the measurement of satisfaction, turnover intention and employer advocacy it also provides potential links to link fairness into the engagement literature.


2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 23-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
Essien D. Essien

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.


2019 ◽  
Vol 250 ◽  
pp. R47-R53
Author(s):  
Tim Besley ◽  
Richard Davies

Executive SummaryAlongside the challenge of maintaining economic competitiveness in the face of great uncertainty, Brexit brings an opportunity for the government to set out a new industrial strategy. The case for doing so rests on the need to address areas of persistent structural weakness in the UK economy, including low productivity. But it is important that any new industrial strategy be based on appropriately granular data reflecting the real structure of the UK corporate sector: the overwhelmingly preponderant role of services as opposed to manufacturing, for example; the importance of young, fast-growing firms as opposed to SMEs; the relatively high failure rate of companies in the UK; and the relative lack of successful mid-sized firms. Such a data-driven approach might spawn an industrial strategy quite different from the piecemeal programmes of recent years.Internationally, the UK is a laggard in this area, and the recently-created Industrial Strategy Council does not look strong enough to change that position. To move forward, the government needs to make industrial strategy a central plank of economic policy, embedded at the heart of the administration with its own staff and funding, and operations based on a comprehensive review of the economic contribution and potential of various types of firm. Needless to say, it cannot be a substitute for a continuing commitment to competition and markets, or a stalking horse for protectionism: interventions should be justified by carefully-argued market failure arguments, be time-limited, and transparently evaluated.


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