New - Journal of Social Inclusion
Posted 21/07/2010 by Matthew Thomas
Last week former High Court of Australia justice, Michael Kirby launched the Griffith University-based Journal of Social Inclusion
. The Journal is described
as seeking to contribute to 'current knowledge and understanding of the social processes that marginalise individuals, families, groups and communities'.
As such, the journal is not focused exclusively on ways of redressing social marginalisation, but is also concerned with questioning what we actually mean by social inclusion.
A recent Parliamentary Library publication
examined the concept of social inclusion in order to determine just how useful it is as a framework for social policy. The paper found that social inclusion lacks a clear definition and coherent theoretical core. Nevertheless, it went on to argue that the concept could be strengthened by being located within a contemporary citizenship framework. This would be to highlight the importance of participation in society as being a right. It could also, through a focus on the rights and duties of citizenship, make for a more active and participatory approach to social arrangements than that allowed for by the concept of social inclusion alone.