Does competitiveness imply cohesion? And what about governance?

1. Does competitiveness imply cohesion? And what about governance? Jan Vranken OASeS - University of Antwerpen COST A26 meeting in Vienna 12 & 13 November 2004

2. Three central concepts • Competitiveness (or competition?) • Cohesion (or cohesiveness?) • Multilevel governance (or governance? And what about urban governance? Or about City-Regions governance?)

3. Some preliminary questions • Do we embark on this subject because both concepts are in the Lisbon declaration? • The problematic is not recent. The welfare states as an answer to the tension between ‘the economic’ and ‘the social’, the market and the state. • Social cohesion and other notions of this order are not concepts in a strict epistemological sense but tentative concepts (Thomas Maloutas )

4. Competitiveness: a political view • Central to the Lisbon Strategy: an integrated strategy for competitiveness • ‘Whereas it is undeniable that such adjustments can be onerous in local economies and in social terms, the resulting better resource allocation will improve national income and welfare’ • The full operation of market forces (competitive pressure, the level of competition, an integrated market) is the core variable in this model, closely followed by innovative capacities.

5. Competitiveness 2 • Non-economic or non-technological factors (education, work practices, consumer protection) are introduced to enhance competition and innovation. • This is the ‘residual model’, compared to the ‘institutional’ model about the relation between the economic (competitiveness) and the social (cohesion).

6. Competitiveness 3 • The important indicators refer to ‘overall’ dimensions (GNP): no attention for internal differences or oppositions (inequality, income distribution, spatial segmentation) • First the economy and then correct what goes wrong through social policies (‘Erst kommt das Fressen und dann die Moral’?)

7. Competitiveness 4

8. Cohesion: political and/or sociological? • Different definitions by political stakeholders • In EU, mostly territorial, in fact about inequality and redistribution among regions • In need for a ‘scientific’ definition? • The question of social order • A cohesive social unit then is

9. Cohesion 1 • A cohesive social unit then would be an organisation, group or city in which forces are active that are strong and lasting enough to hold that unit together. • It renders that social unit into something ‘sustainable’ • Social cohesion is needed to ensure the social reproduction (‘social sustainability’) of a neighbourhood, a city, or any other (urban) system

10. Social cohesion 2 • The action of cementing does resuire building blocks and cement. • Therefore a • relational dimension (social networks and “social capital”, which is largely dependent upon the existence of social networks) • and a cultural dimension (common value pattern) • integration of both dimensions: group identification.

11. Social cohesion 3 • The relational dimension of social cohesion consists of a structured multiplicity of social links between individuals or their positions • Strong and weak links • The cultural dimension: a set of shared values and norms would enable the members ‘to identify and support common aims and objectives, and share a common set of moral principles and codes of behaviour through which to conduct their relations with one another’. • Routines as mediators between values and everyday life • Routines as means for social control

12. Social cohesion 4 • Third dimension: a feeling of belonging to or identification with a group (relational and cultural dimension) • Internal forces (common frameworks) • External forces (in/out-group) • Cohesion may be • constraining • excluding • supportive

13. Including both concepts into a common framework? Indirect link: both competition and cohesion lead to forms of social exclusion & inclusion COMPETITION Is competition only possible within a minimum of cohesion? Market? COHESION -top-down -bottom-up Society?

14. Application to the City-Region • C & C cohabitate in a concentrated way at the city level… • Does fragmentation threaten social cohesion? • Is identification with the city better than with neighbourhoods or communities? • Do people identify as individuals or as group members? • What about among cities? • What about between cities?

15. Urban governance - a simple definition • A coordinated and organised approach implying • Different actors (public, private) • Different domains (‘departments’: health, housing, education, work) • Different levels (Europe, nation-state, region, city-region, city) • -> why then multilevel governance?

16. Between government and governance

17. Is governance able to.. • Manage the tensions between C & C? • What conditions have to be fulfilled?