ABSTRACT
In Britain, as in many other Western societies, there has, over the last two or three decades, been growing concern over a range of perceived social problems that together are seen as stemming from what is currently popularly described as ‘social exclusion’. The term ‘social exclusion’ was first used in French social policy in the 1970s and, from the 1980s, in the European Union (EU) as unemployment was increasing rapidly in several Member States and as immigration was also rising (Levitas, 2004; Roberts, 2009). Together, these processes were associated with growing concern that came to be expressed about the formation of groups who were not only unemployed or just poor, but somehow seen as ‘outside’ and ‘apart from’ mainstream society (Roberts, 2009). In Britain, fears regarding the spread of unemployment were accompanied by a debate over whether an emergent underclass could be distinguished from other groups in the wider society. By the time New Labour had won the 1997 general election, however, discussions about the existence of an ‘underclass’ in society had been replaced by the concept of social exclusion. In the period since 1997, the concept of social exclusion has become the preferred, political and ideologically saturated, label used to refer to the forms of disadvantage that are said to be experienced by those groups who are identified as ‘disadvantaged’ in one way or another (Roberts, 2009). The concept has also ‘been subjected to changes in meaning that are closely related to the political arguments encapsulated in third way debates’ (Levitas, 2004: 44) and the associated ideological preoccupations of government (see Chapter 2). More particularly, as part of the somewhat ambiguous and contentious ‘Third Way’ approach to much British government policy (Levitas, 2004), particular concern has been
expressed about what can happen when people and local communities become ‘socially excluded’ by experiencing a combination of linked ‘problems’. These ‘problems’, that were once referred to as multiple deprivation or multiple disadvantage (Roberts, 2009), include rising levels of crime and drug use, unemployment, low income, family and community breakdown, lack of social integration and participation, and declining standards of employment, education and health (Social Exclusion Unit, 1998). Such a view of social exclusion is ‘spectacularly vague’ (Levitas, 2004: 45) and fails to explain adequately the wider social processes that are associated with the development and existence of these perceived social problems. Recent policy and political emphasis on social exclusion has been underpinned by a concern with inadequate social participation, lack of social integration and power amongst local communities. A parallel emphasis has also come to be placed on personal responsibility and accountability (Coalter, 2007a; Levitas, 2004). More specifically, as Coalter has observed,
the emphasis on community and social inclusion is accompanied by an emphasis on personal responsibility – to work or to seek work, to provide for family, to behave responsibly, to take responsibility for personal health, to contribute to the solution of community problems and so on.
