James Hughes and Ben Slay
© Piotr Malecki/Panos Pictures
Drawing on primary research from an upcoming UNDP report on social inclusion, Susanne Milcher presents initial findings on levels and processes of social exclusion—as well as prospects for social inclusion—in Europe and Central Asia. Hugh Frazer and Eric Marlier argue that efforts to combat social exclusion should be strengthened under the EU’s ‘2020 Agenda’. By contrast, Peter Vermeersch suggests that the ‘Europeanization’ of Roma inclusion issues has been a mixed blessing. Orsolya Lelkes uses tax-benefit models to conclude that flat taxes combined with basic social allowances promote social inclusion better than flat taxes alone. By examining young people who have recently left state care institutions, John Pinkerton concludes that that social inclusion can be an effective social policy instrument—if it reflects the conditions affecting specific marginalized groups.
Dorothee Bohle and Béla Greskovits introduce a series of country/comparative articles by arguing that Hungary since 1990 has pursued a ’welfarist’ social development path, while Latvia has followed a more ’nationalist’ route—with differing social outcomes. On the other hand, Lidija Japec finds that, in most of the Western Balkans, ethnic tensions are perceived to be a smaller threat to social cohesion than differences between rich and poor. Nicola Nixon strikes a similar note in arguing that social exclusion (rather than ethnic tensions) has become more entrenched in Bosnia and Herzegovina since the military conflict ended there 15 years ago. Nicolas Jarraud, John Lewis, and Pembe Mentesh suggest that that reconciliation processes in Cyprus likewise suffer from a ‘social inclusion deficit’. Jelena Tadzic and Danilo Vukovic show how internal cycles of deprivation, illiteracy and poverty combine with external cycles of prejudice and discrimination to perpetuate the social exclusion of Roma in Serbia. Katy Norman and Jürg Staudenmann use experience from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo and Tajikistan to call for the closer integration of access to water with social inclusion agendas. Nurjemal Jalilova suggests that considerable changes will have to be made to Turkmenistan’s largely unreformed pension system, in order to ensure its longer-term financial sustainability.