Social Inclusion

We can either emphasize those aspects of our traditions, religious or secular, that speak of hatred, exclusion, and suspicion or work with those that stress the interdependence and equality of all human beings. The choice is yours. ~ Karen Armstrong

Creating and Developing Awareness

The World Bank looks at Social Inclusion in terms of the cost to society. In its March, 2017 brief it defines Social Inclusion as:

the process of improving the terms on which individuals and groups take part in society—improving the ability, opportunity, and dignity of those disadvantaged on the basis of their identity.

The organization is committed to promoting social inclusion through a range of knowledge products, projects, and programs.

In WHO’s 2013 study, Inclusion Matters: The Foundation for Shared Prosperity, they found several key findings:

• Excluded groups are denied opportunities. Excluded groups are significantly less likely to receive the benefits of development investments. In Uganda, for example, where electricity coverage is low, almost half of respondents from the Buganda group reported having electricity, compared to less than 5 percent of the minority Lugbara and Ngakaramajong populations. The same breakdown appears in terms of access to clean water. Some excluded groups have been denied opportunities for hundreds of years, such as Native Americans in the United States.
• Poverty and exclusion are not the same. In some societies, even the rich can be excluded, as might be the case with wealthy homosexual men in some African countries. The protest movements in the Middle East have been fueled in part by demands among middle-class citizens for greater inclusion in public decision making and accountability from political leaders.
• Exclusion is costly. Measuring the cost of exclusion has methodological challenges, but the costs—whether social, political, or economic—are likely to be substantial. Occupational segregation can restrict the free movement of talent and resources, resulting in productivity losses to an entire economy. One study found that exclusion of the ethnic minority Roma cost Romania 887 million euros in lost productivity. Studies in Bolivia estimate that ethnic exclusion reduces agricultural productivity by up to 36 percent.
• Most importantly, we find abundant evidence that inclusion can be planned and achieved. Education represents an unparalleled agent for stimulating inclusion. Religious leaders and other champions of change can help excluded groups acquire voice and confidence. The march towards greater inclusion, however, is not linear. Expanding the rights of formerly oppressed people risks triggering a backlash from historically dominant groups, who see their interests threatened. The process of fostering inclusion is incremental. It requires time and unwavering commitment. Still, the benefits of persistently striving for inclusion are at once striking and numerous. Examples can be seen around the world, from the overthrow of apartheid in South Africa, to China’s outlawing of foot binding, to the growing support that Brazilian police now provide to victims of rape. Exclusion is far from immutable.

The study main messages are:

1. Excluded groups exist in all countries.
   
2. Excluded groups are consistently denied opportunities.
   
3. Intense global transitions are leading to social transformations that create new opportunities for inclusion as well as exacerbating existing forms of exclusion.
4. People take part in society through markets, services, and spaces.
5. Social and economic transformations affect the attitudes and perceptions of people. As people act on the basis of how they feel, it is important to pay attention to their attitudes and perceptions.
6. Exclusion is not immutable. Abundant evidence demonstrates that social inclusion can be planned and achieved.
7. Moving ahead will require a broader and deeper knowledge of exclusion and its impacts as well as taking concerted action.

Educate, Inform and Create Inspiration

According to The World Bank, the impact of social inclusion can be seen in:

• The Arab Spring as reaction to the exclusion of educated young people from the labor markets, political decision-making and accountability
• The exclusion of the Roma ethnic minority in Europe which estimates the yearly productivity loss between 231 to 8857 euros.
• Children with disabilities are less likely to start school and less likely to stay in school.
• Women in India who are subjected to spousal abuse are less likely to receive antenatal care, are more likely to terminate their pregnancy or have still birth or have stunted children compared to women who were not abused.

Social Exclusion can exist on any number of characteristics, but most often for individuals the intersection of those characteristics creates even greater exclusion. Below is a list of some of the many characteristics may deny inclusion into a society:

• Religions not considered in the main stream of a society or a lack of religious belief
• Gender
• Racial groups
• Ethnic groups
• Sexual orientation
• Disability (physical or mental)
• Health status like HIV/AIDS
• Caste systems
• Immigrants
• Employment
• Age
• Geographical location
• Language
• Economic status
  

Compassionate Organizing

The Boggs Center, created by James and Grace Lee Boggs, uses Compassionate organizing to foster social inclusion.

James and Grace Lee Boggs were named as two of the people responsible for the most violent uprising of the 1960s in Detroit. While they rejected that charge, they accepted the responsibility that their work helped to define the ideas and feelings that lead up to the rebellion. They were concerned especially about the deterioration of relationships within the community in the wake of 1967. These concerns lead them to a period of deep reflection and to make a fundamental distinction between rebellion and revolution. Rebellion, they said, was the righteous uprising by people against oppression. But it was not a revolution. A revolution was not just against something. It was for the advancement of our humanity. Over the next nearly half a century they worked to develop the ideas and strategies of revolution based on projections of a new, more human, and ecologically responsible future.

As Grace Lee Boggs said, "To make a revolution, people must not only struggle against existing institutions. They must make a philosophical/ spiritual leap and become more 'human' human  beings. In order to change/ transform the world, they must change/ transform themselves."  

This view of revolution as a struggle to transform ourselves while we transform our world was rooted in the concept of love. James and Grace believed we had to love our country “enough to change it.” Increasingly they became convinced that love was a material force for change in our communities. In response to the growing violence brought by crack into our communities, they worked with Save Our Sons and Daughters, SOSAD, and organization of the parents of children lost to gun violence. There they learned of the capacity of people to transform grief into actions, finding new ways to solve problems and increase peaceful relationships. This lead to organizing against crack houses in neighborhoods. After an especially brutal shooting in a neighborhood crack house, they decided to march to the house where 4 young men had been killed. The remaining drug dealers greeted them with guns, standing on roof tops, prepared to defend themselves from what they feared was a neighborhood attack. Instead, Dorothy Garner lead a prayer circle and spoke to the young men saying, “We are here today because we love you. We hate what you are doing, but we love you and we are sorry for your loss. We, too, lost those young men.” Over the next few months, as public marches continued, crime fell in the neighborhood by 80%.

2. Critical connections.

As James and Grace explored rebuilding our communities, they began to see that love required creating new ties to people and place. Individualism and the desire for more material goods were destroying our connections to each other and to the planet. Increasingly people were willing to do anything, destroy anything, sacrifice anything to get more goods for themselves. In response to this they began to look at the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who challenged us to engage our young people in the work of “rebuilding our dying cities” as a way to transform them and the structures and values that were killing us all. They began to see that by building concrete alternative structures and practices that embodied the values we needed to secure a just future depended on building critical connections among people. Programs like Detroit Summer, Artists and Children Creating Community Together, urban gardens and later Detroit Asian Youth and Women Creating Caring Communities all emphasized developing critical connections as the basis for fundamental change.

They began to see that movements of the 21 Century would be very different from the movements of the 20th century. Critical mass had been essential to seize power, but critical connections are the basis for creating power within our selves and our communities. Beginning with the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955, they began to see that the vision of a beloved community, embracing every individual in safe, sustainable, loving and joyful ways was the only way to ensure the survival of people and our earth.

3. Visionary organizing

In the last 20 years of her life, Grace Lee Boggs, deepened these ideas, encouraging us develop concrete alternatives that expressed our longings for a sustainable, just future. Urban gardens provide ways to grow our food while we grow our communities, creating new ties among generations. Developing educational opportunities that see children as capable of creating the solutions to our problems formed the foundation of place based educational practices. Creating new forms of local production for local needs gave people a new sense of purpose and held the only alternative to planetary extinction.

Grace said, “People are aware that they cannot continue in the same old way but are immobilized because they cannot imagine an alternative. We need a vision that recognizes that we are at one of the great turning points in human history when the survival of our planet and the restoration of our humanity require a great sea change in our ecological, economic, political, and spiritual values.”James and Grace believed that the unique human capacity for reflection were critical to creating a just society. James believed that asking fundamental questions prepared us to govern in conscious ways. Grace described herself as a “philosopher activist.” Both were committed to the belief that revolution was rooted in the development of new ideas about how we should live, relate to one another and care for the places that sustain us. They pursued ideas in writings, speeches and conversations, challenging all of us to take responsibility for our future.

Skills Development and Activities

Skills for Social Inclusion

International Labor Organization. Skills for social inclusion includes improving the labor market prospects and quality of work for those disadvantaged in the labor market is a key focus of the International Labor Organization's (ILO) research and capacity building agenda. Concerted and focused efforts are needed to improve outreach, quality and relevance of education and training. Given the heterogeneity of disadvantaged groups, such as women, youth, persons with disabilities, workers in rural areas or in the informal economy, migrants or refugees, targeted initiatives to address their particular challenges are needed to better link education and training to the world of work. The ILO’s Training for Rural Economic Empowerment (TREE) Program provides an example of a proven platform that assists those working in poor rural communities to build the relevant skills and abilities for employment and income generation.

Active labor market programs (ALMPs) that offer a package of support services including remedial education, core skills, vocational and job readiness training, work experience, awareness of labor rights and occupational safety and health, job-search assistance, career guidance and counseling are more likely to enhance employability and facilitate transitions to decent work. Source: International Labor Organization

New Approaches, New Skills for Social Inclusion - EUproVET. There is nothing more important at the present time than the development of opportunities to enable people of all ages and from all backgrounds to contribute to the socio-economic development of Europe. Following the global economic crisis, and in the light of the rapid growth of the emerging economies, Europe has to differentiate itself by the provision of human capital at the highest level, contributing innovative ideas and creating new ways of doing business.

Yet too many people across Europe have skills which barely equip them for today’s workforce, let alone that of tomorrow. They run the risk of being socially excluded, disenfranchised from employment and suffering from low living standards and poor health and well being.

Social inclusion and social mobility depends on people, regardless of their age, having the right skills
and competences, opportunities to use and develop them both to gain confidence and self-esteem personally and at work in order to contribute to a better society as well as improve competitiveness and productivity. Many of the emerging skills have yet to be defined, and many will rely on new media and technologies in the early stages of development.

Social inclusion and social mobility also depends on the individual’s ability to transfer those skills and competences to new situations and to be able to communicate in a way which suits individual circumstances and aspirations. Source: NANSSI Europe.

How to Implement or Put into Action

The Inclusive Classroom. Research and experience has told us that having social skills is essential for success in life. Inclusive teachers have always taught, provided and reinforced the use of good social skills in order to include and accommodate for the wide range of students in the classroom. Essentially, inclusive classrooms are representations of the real world where people of all backgrounds and abilities co-exsist.  In fact, there are school disctricts with curriculum specifically for social and emotional development. Click here to learn more and reiew teaching strategies.  While this resourse is for classroom teaching it certainly can be adapted to be used in organizations.

Promoting Positive Social Interactions in an Inclusive Setting for Students with Learning Disabilities. If you are working or going to work as either a general education or special education teacher in an inclusion classroom you will be involved a myriad of positive and challenging experiences. None of these will be more rewarding than helping children with special needs develop positive social interactions with their peers.

One of the components of successful of inclusion is the degree to which the student with a disability feels a part of the general education classroom. The feeling of belonging positively affects the student s self-image and self-esteem, motivation to achieve, speed of adjustment tohe larger classroom and new demands, general behavior, and general level of achievement. The iimpact of the new student on the general classroom is a major consideration for inclusionplanners. Fostering positive social relationships between students with disabilities and their peers requires the preparation of nondisabled peers in the classroom so that they understand the needsof their new classmates. Teachers may use many strategies to help the student achieve a sense of belonging to the class and school. Source: NASET

Source Links

http://www.nationaldiversitycouncil.org/about/vision-and-mission

http://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/socialdevelopment/brief/social-inclusionission/ 

www.boggscenter.org  

Thanks to Richard Feldman for contribution to this handbook from the Boggs Center