ABSTRACT
Social cohesion is an increasingly popular but still ill-defined concept in social sciences. While scholars agree that it is one of society’s most precious and most precarious resources, there is little empirical research on the extent to which societies in Asia are cohesive, what the causes of that cohesion is and what its consequences are. This chapter introduces the concept of social cohesion and presents the findings of the Bertelsmann Asian Social Cohesion Radar (Asia Radar). Building on the Asia Radar, the chapter describes the rationale for this volume, key questions that will be investigated and the selection of cases for this volume.
