The Social Exclusion in a Liberal Society: A Sociological Study on the Effects of Socioeconomic Resources and Social Support Network on Subjective Freedom

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This study aims to find out how socioeconomic resources and social support networks determine the degree of people's freedom, and to explicate the characteristics of the social order based on the principle of liberalism. Main findings are as follows. (1) There is the gender inequality of freedom. This inequality reflects the unequal distribution of socioeconomic resources between men and women. (2) Since the 2000s, the positive effects of individual resources on people's class identification have rapidly increased, while the effects of family resources have decreased. In this sense, the individualization of Japanese society can be said to occur. (3) People's individual resources have positive effects on the size or quantity of their social support network. However, people's individual resources do not increase the availability of support that their network gives. The availability of support is determined by "reciprocity" and the "availability of alternative ties."