'Social Cohesion in Times of Uncertainty', held on 24 - 25 September 2017, was a two-day colloquium which brought together practitioners, third sector representatives and academics, particularly postgraduate researchers and early career academics, from multiple fields in the social sciences, humanities, and human sciences, to discuss how to address social divisions.
Societies around the world are experiencing overlapping and interlinked political, social and economic crises that are pulling us unevenly in every direction: pressing strangers together and pulling neighbours apart, creating new forms of hate and new forms of kinship. The effects of the 2008 financial crisis can still be felt in households worldwide, whilst the political events of Brexit, the election of Donald Trump and the rise of right wing populism across Europe simultaneously creates intense uncertainty whilst promising security and familiarity.
- What should social cohesion look like, and how should we build it?
- How can we understand and bridge the many gaps in our society?
- How might we re-examine the complex relation between cultural works and social cohesion?
- How do businesses enhance or hinder social cohesion?
- How does the politics of (in)security affect cohesion?
To find out how these questions were responded to by delegates and speakers alike, please read the Colloquium Committe's Report, available for download in PDF format above.
Our Colloquim Committee members were:
Dr Matt Donoghue, University of Oxford
Kerstin Fries, University of Oxford
Dr Samentha Goethals, Oxford Brookes University
Dr Sadek Kessous, Newcastle University
Dr Ben Whitham, De Montfort University