Search

The article discusses papers on social cohesion and social inclusion featured in the December 2012 issue of the "International Journal of Social Quality" including an examination of the extent to which people in Australia distrust individuals and organizations, an investigation into social capital and civic engagement in Hong Kong, China and a paper on social inclusion amongst atypical workers in Taiwan.

Promoting civic engagement could be a way of strengthening the social solidarity of China's urban population. The drastic socio-economic changes resulting from recent economic reform are likely to have a deleterious effect on social solidarity. Based on a survey conducted in 2010 in the Southern China city of Xiamen, this paper examines a specific form of civic engagement - citizen cooperation - to resolve community problems, and assesses its relationship with social capital. The study reveals that discrepancies in the level of civic engagement exist among urban residents and that inequality of social capital plays a significant role in these discrepancies. The findings suggest that such gaps could be addressed by increasing social capital, especially by expanding residents' personal community networks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]