ABSTRACT
The Asia Social Cohesion Radar (Asian Radar) has identified Bangladesh as one of the countries with low social cohesion. This chapter attempts to explain the causes of and conditions for this low level of cohesion and the factors which hold Bangladeshi society together. With the absence of available scholarly studies on Bangladeshi society beyond the Asia-SCR, which use the social cohesion framework, the chapter has employed patrimonialism and political settlement frameworks in the exploration. In doing so, the chapter makes three main arguments. First, political settlement among the elites has served as a two-edged sword; while it contributes to a semblance of social order, it has also contributed to a rise of neopatrimonialism and partyarchy, which are inimical to various aspects of social cohesion. Second, the chapter argues that social order in Bangladesh is maintained through intermediation. Intermediaries, rather than formal state institutions, are central to the maintenance of social order. Third, growing authoritarianism serves as a factor for apparent social order.
