Why the Discussion on Social Cohesion Now?
Economic concerns dominated the public policy agenda of most advanced industrialized nations in the 1980s. In Canada and elsewhere in the OECD world, governments were plagued by chronic deficits, high rates of inflation and stalled growth. They therefore began to curb public expenditures, liberalize trade, re-organize the welfare state and deregulate the economy in order to create more competitive markets and clean up the public finances. These measures are generally considered to have improved overall economic performance. Inflation has fallen, we no longer have a budget deficit, and unemployment is decreasing. At the same time, however, there is a growing impression that economic policies have placed too little emphasis on social considerations. A number of countries, including Canada, are witnessing signs of public dissatisfaction and of eroding faith in governing institutions(2), as more and more citizens, especially youth, experience the costs of this restructuring without much ho
