Social Sustainability
Social Cohesion
The bonds holding a society together — trust, belonging, shared purpose — strained by inequality and transition, and essential to collective action.
Definition
Social cohesion is the extent to which members of a society trust one another, feel a sense of belonging, share common values, and cooperate across differences — the quality of the bonds that hold communities and nations together. It is undermined by inequality, discrimination, displacement and perceived unfairness, and is a stated objective of institutions from the Council of Europe to the OECD and national social policies.
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