‘Divided or united’: Strengthening Social Cohesion for Well-being and Prosperity

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Background

Social cohesion builds resilience in the community so that any future crises or shocks—whether they are natural disasters, unemployment, radicalization, or increased tensions within communities—will be mitigated. It is clear that with respect to the prevention, response and recovery during times of crisis, having cohesive and resilient communities is critical. Social cohesion is a priority and not separate or independent from efforts related to polarization, extremism and security, hazard preparedness and recovery or efforts related to community and individual resilience.

Importantly social cohesion bolsters a group of people’s (e.g., neighborhood, nation) ability to take collective action to address needs and problems. When there is a lack of social cohesion, there is also a higher cost of security, business and health. Social cohesion is also important for individuals; it is associated with less loneliness, better health and mental health and happiness. Despite its importance, evidence from many countries indicates that this important ‘social glue’ is fragile and at risk, requiring consistent investments to maintain and strengthen it. This Research Topic is focused on a crucial question: how can we build, preserve, and strengthen cohesion within societies to effectively manage present and future challenges?

Although various theories (including, but not limited to, intergroup contact theory, social identity theory, and self-categorization theory) have the potential to open new horizons to strengthen cohesion at the macro (e.g., nations, societies), meso (e.g., communities, neighborhoods), and micro level (e.g., sport teams), what is still lacking is an understanding of well-established and effective interventions aimed at strengthening social cohesion. Knowing how to strengthen social cohesion, and doing so, is a key 'buffer' that can protect life and grow prosperity. Collective knowledge and research in this direction is necessary and important to ensure individual and communities thrive, even when facing crises. This is clear when we examine emerging research:

1. Communities with greater social cohesion experience more positive outcomes following a natural disaster
2. Following a disaster, levels of social cohesion generally increase as individuals are motivated to volunteer and demonstrate greater community assistance but then these decrease to pre-disaster levels
3. Planned and targeted investment in communities (integrated community action plans in the UK) to strengthen social cohesion (including but not limited to the English language) leads to higher social cohesion in times of crisis
4. During COVID-19 (in Australia), social cohesion in the community and nation are significantly related to health behaviour, lower vaccine hesitancy and better mental health
5. A shared social identity is necessary for the emergence and sustainability of such solidarity which ‘is fragile and require long-term investment’

This Research Topic encourages manuscripts investigating social cohesion and in particular programs, policies, interventions, initiatives and drivers that serve to strengthen it or not. There is innovative thinking and pockets of excellence in Government, NGOs, businesses (e.g., through impact investing and social enterprises), and community leadership. We welcome any evidence-based research that empowers communities by giving them voice and a sense of agency. We recognize the need for social cohesion research that examines the bilateral and dialectical relationship between communities and social and political institutions. Therefore, we seek papers that show how changes in social institutions and government policy and behaviors may impact vertical and horizontal social cohesion.

Knowing what does not work in programs of research is as valuable as knowing what does have impact. Null findings of well-designed interventions are also welcomed.

The overarching goal of this special issue is to examine how social cohesion (a) can be strengthened through well-designed interventions derived from well-established theories, and (b) can contribute to community prosperity and crisis contexts.

By tackling these questions, scholars can make a great contribution to the betterment of societies as we all inevitably grapple with turmoil.

Social cohesion may include but is not limited to:

• Quality of social relations;
• Quantity of social relations;
• Horizontal trust (the extent to which citizens trust one another);
• Vertical trust (the extent to which citizen trust social and political institutions);
• Intergroup trust;
• Sense of belonging;
• Social solidarity;
• Engagement in the betterment of the group;

We draw authors’ attention to a common confusion in social cohesion literature concerning overlapping constructs such as social cohesion, trust, diversity and inclusion, integration, solidarity, group cohesion and social capital. We take a broad view and welcome papers that draw on any of this terminology as long as they have a clear definition and explanation for the term being used. Different terminology reflects the inter-disciplinary interest in this topic which we want to ensure is represented in this special issue. We welcome submissions from across the social and behavioral sciences but we will prioritize empirical investigations analyzed using quantitative and/or qualitative methods.

Keywords: social cohesion, community resilience, inclusion, integration, community empowerment, intervention, disaster preparedness

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

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