What is it about?
Community Cohesion has become a new buzzword in contemporary Social Policy and this has gained ascendancy with context of Neoliberal dominance; which implies state withdrawal from service provision. It is in this situation that 'faith-based' approaches have become popular. In this article we examine the roots of contemporary ideas of Community Cohension as lying in the philosophy of Communitarianism. We examine the way Communitarianism has influenced both Labour and Conservative social policy in related ways.
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Why is it important?
Even though British society is become increasingly secular, faith groups have disproportionate significance in providing services that used to be run by the state. But how do these faith groups treat women, and in particular women from BME communities? The implications of this are examined in relation to the Trojan Horse Schools Affair in Birmingham in 2014.
Perspectives
This article began by discussing how the philosophy of Communitarianism had gained considerable influence over both Labour and Conservative policy. The example used explored the way this has facilitated religious groups have seeking increasing influence of Education, using the logic of Communitarian arguments. But to whom are these groups accountable? What are the implications of the state sponsoring the religious service provision. What are the implications at the level of equality issues, as well as broader question of accountability?
Dr Stephen Cowden
Coventry University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Community cohesion, communitarianism and neoliberalism, Critical Social Policy, October 2016, SAGE Publications,
DOI: 10.1177/0261018316670252.
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