Social cohesion and its local dimension. Redefinition of the concept

Abstract

The article presents a redefinition of the concept of social cohesion, which is free from valuation and useful for the study of local cohesion. It presents the sociological roots of social cohesion considerations and examples of operational definitions. The definitional perspective adopted in the article differs from the definitions of social cohesion prevalent in social policy and cohesion policy. The redefined concept is contrasted with two terms used alternatively to describe the quality of social ties: civil society and social capital. It concludes by signalling the need to develop research on local social cohesion, which will include a comparison of cohesion patterns with other characteristics of territorial communities.