social cohesion

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

the degree to which members of a society share values, trust institutions, participate in civic life, and maintain bonds of solidarity across social divisions including class, ethnicity, religion, and national origin; social cohesion is understood as both a measurable property of societies and a policy objective that governments pursue through education, public services, anti-discrimination measures, and community programmes; high social cohesion is associated with better health outcomes, lower crime, higher economic performance, and stronger democratic institutions; in migration debates, social cohesion is invoked both by those who argue that diversity enhances it through exposure to difference and by those who argue, following Robert Putnam's research, that diversity may in the short run reduce trust and community engagement, requiring deliberate policy responses to rebuild common bonds