235 11 Conclusion: Super-diversity, conviviality, inequality Stijn Oosterlynck and Gert Verschraegen In the Introduction to this book (Chapter 1), we argue that the concept of super-diversity captures a number of ongoing diversity-related societal transformations, but also has its limitations. The chapters in this volume each in their own way improve our understanding of living with super-diversity in deprived and mixed neighbourhoods. They aim to contribute to the literature on super-diverse urban neighbourhoods in two important ways. First, overly
: “by doing” and often implicitly. For Castoriadis, the greatest fiction our modern societies cling to is that they are ever so rational. In fact, goals like growth and mastery of the world are anything but rational, and they can become downright threatening when what has been institutionalized, for example, technology, takes on a life of its own. To think about a different, a convivial society means to think about new forms of the social imaginary, to imagine and create a new conception of society. The neoliberal imaginary, which currently dominates our world
, 2016 ). All of our encounters with nature are mediated by technical devices (for example plows, cooking utensils, or airplanes), and technology is embedded in concrete socio-economic modes of production and culturally shaped practices. To be sure, our current technology is mostly capitalistically preformed, that is, designed for purposes like rationalization and growth. But there also exists what Ernst Bloch in The Principle of Hope called “alliance technology” ([ 1954] 1986 ), or what Ivan Illich in Tools for Conviviality named “convivial technology” (1973
institutional orders. In doing so, I will make ample use of the concept of convivialism (from Latin con-vivere : living together), which is based on another sociological concept that is the focal point of my argument: the gift. Starting out with everyday varieties of gift giving, I will work my way towards the global scale and examine different shapes that a “politics of the gift” could take, a politics that aspires to change the ways we treat each other and the world in which we live. In this endeavor, I was inspired by a small volume published in 2013 by a group of 64
we must do our utmost to save our privileges and our wealth. But this will neither be possible, nor is it really desirable, for ecological reasons as well as reasons of social justice. We need a completely new societal vision, one that leaves behind economism and the externalization of social and ecological problems and aims for convivialism instead. So which ideas could we resort to in this endeavor? As we have seen with Mauss, it is possible to draw on old European practices of giving in order to create a solidarity economy. Beyond that, Western political
Sacha Darke (2018) Conviviality and Survival: Co-producing Brazilian Prison Order London: Palgrave Macmillan Hardback: ISBN 978-3-319-92209-6, £89.99 Paperback: ISBN 978-3-030-06385-6, £79.99 Ebook: ISBN 978-3-319-92210-2, £63.99 Sacha Darke’s work offers an in-depth analysis of the strategies of co-production of order in Brazilian prisons. The book arises from the astonishment of the English author upon discovering in his first visits that these prisons ‘work’ despite the poor housing conditions, overcrowding, and shortage of prison staff and
How do people deal with diversity in deprived and mixed urban neighbourhoods? This edited collection provides a comparative international perspective on superdiversity in cities, with explicit attention given to social inequality and social exclusion on a neighbourhood level.
Although public discourses on urban diversity are often negative, this book focuses on how residents actively and creatively come and live together through micro-level interactions. By deliberately taking an international perspective on the daily lives of residents, the book uncovers the ways in which national and local contexts shape living in diversity.
The book will be a valuable resource for researchers and students of poverty, segregation and social mix, conviviality, the effects of international migration, urban and neighbourhood policies and governance, multiculturality, social networks, social cohesion, social mobility, and super-diversity.
At the heart of capitalism lies the idea of “homo economicus”: an ever-rational human being motivated by self-interest which arguably leads societies to economic prosperity.
Drawing on French sociologist Marcel Mauss’ influential theory of “the gift”, Frank Adloff shatters this fallacy to show mutual trust is the only glue that holds societies together; people are giving beings and they can cooperate for the benefit of all when the logic of all when the logic of maximizing personal gain in capitalism is broken.
Acknowledging the role of women, nature and workers in the Global South in transforming society, this book proposes a politics of conviviality, (from Latin con-vivere: living together), for global and environmental justice as an alternative to the pursuit of profit, growth and consumption.
Research on well-being reveals the significance of personal relationships, trust and participation to sustain quality of life, yet it is the economic model that remains the dominant basis for political and social institutions and policy.
In this original book, Bill Jordan presents a new analysis of well-being in terms of social value, and outlines how it could be incorporated into public policy decisions. He argues that the grandiose attempt to maximise welfare and regulate social relations through contract, in line with the economic theory of information and incentives, is counterproductive for well-being. Instead, both the quality of personal experience and the restraints necessary for a convivial collective life would be better served by a focus on cultures and institutions. This book will be an essential text for academics and students in social theory, social welfare, public policy and governance.
Bill Jordan is Professor of Social Policy at Plymouth and Huddersfield Universities. He has held visiting chairs in Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Slovakia and Hungary. He worked for 20 years in the UK social services, and is the author of 25 books on social policy, social theory, politics and social work.
