What difference does civil society make?

探索在种族和宗教多样性的背景下社会凝聚力和社团生活之间的关系，该项目将探讨民间社会活动的存在、性质和程度的变化对英格兰弱势社区群体间冲突和紧张关系的影响。具体而言，它审议了近邻方案实施的举措的效果，这些举措旨在建立社会凝聚力，加强地方一级的民间社会。近邻起源于教会城市基金会（CUF）的工作，该基金会30年来一直是对贫困和社会凝聚力问题做出基于信仰的回应的先锋。社区一级民间社会组织分布的差异对社会凝聚力有什么影响？这将建立在现有的对种族异质性、劣势和社会凝聚力之间关系的二级分析的基础上，按照桑普森关于集体效能的研究，纳入地方一级民间社会协会分布的指标。什么样的民间社会活动有助于在不同种族背景或宗教信仰的人之间建立凝聚力？信仰组织在多大程度上对这些活动作出了独特的贡献，宗教信仰以何种方式促进或阻碍这种凝聚力？3.在加强民间社会，在当地社区不同种族背景或宗教信仰的人之间建立社会凝聚力方面，“什么是有效的”？基于信仰的参与对民间社会和政策环境构成了哪些具体挑战？MethodologyA混合方法的方法，提出了二次定量数据分析和深入的定性研究，在英格兰各地的地方社区。我们设想以下主要战略：1.相关调查数据集（如犯罪调查，了解社会）的定量分析，组织分布的指标已被链接，这是相关的探索环境对社会凝聚力和社会紧张局势的看法的影响。这项工作还将对近邻行政数据的分析数据进行背景化。定量分析两个新的数据来源，近邻将提供：a。近邻计划的行政和调查数据，该计划提供了一个独特的研究资源，包括1，400多个地方项目的数据，这些项目将不同信仰或种族的人聚集在一起，以及B。关于教区教会的社会行动以及教会领导人对其社区的社会凝聚力和互动的看法的调查数据（由教会城市基金提供，近邻组织是该基金的一个附属机构）。这将为社会行动和社会凝聚力感知的地方层面变化提供新的见解。有机会进行定性/人种学研究，在各种社区花费时间，并与社区成员和参与当地民间社会组织的人进行访谈或焦点小组。定量分析将为选择适当的案例研究提供依据。

Exploring relationships between social cohesion and associational life in the context of ethnic and religious diversity.This project will explore the impact of variations in the presence, nature and extent of civil society activity on intergroup conflicts and tensions in disadvantaged communities in England. Specifically, it considers the effects of initiatives implemented by the Near Neighbours programme, which are designed to build social cohesion and strengthen civil society at the local level. Near Neighbours originated from work by the Church Urban Fund (CUF) which for 30 years has been in the vanguard of faith-based responses to issues of deprivation and social cohesion.Key research questions1. What impacts do community-level variations in the distribution of civil society organisations have on social cohesion? This will build on existing secondary analyses of relationships between ethnic heterogeneity, disadvantage, and social cohesion by incorporating indicators of the distribution of civil society associations at the local level, following Sampson on collective efficacy.2. What kinds of civil society activity help build cohesion between people of different ethnic backgrounds or religious beliefs? To what extent do faith-based organisations make a distinctive contribution to such activities, and in what ways does religious belief facilitate or obstruct such cohesion?3. 'What works' in terms of strengthening civil society in a way that builds social cohesion between people of different ethnic backgrounds or religious beliefs, in local communities? And what particular challenges does faith-based engagement pose for civil society and policy contexts?MethodologyA mixed methods approach is proposed, including analysis of secondary quantitative data and in-depth qualitative research in local communities across England. We envisage the following main strategies:1. Quantitative analyses of relevant survey datasets (e.g. Crime Survey, Understanding Society) to which indicators of organisational distribution have been linked which are of relevance to exploring contextual influences on perceptions of social cohesion and social tension. This work will also contextualise data on the analyses of the Near Neighbours administrative data.2. Quantitative analyses of two novel data sources which Near Neighbours will make available: a. administrative and survey data on the Near Neighbours programme, which provides a unique research resource including data on 1,400+ local projects which bring together people of different faiths or ethnicities, and b. survey data about social action by parish churches and about church leaders' perceptions of social cohesion and interaction in their communities (to be provided by Church Urban Fund (CUF), of which Near Neighbours is a subsidiary). This will provide novel insights into local-level variations in social action and perceptions of social cohesion.3. Opportunity for qualitative/ethnographic research, spending time in a variety of communities and conducting interviews or focus groups with community members and those engaged in local civil society organisations. The quantitative analyses will provide a basis for selection of appropriate case studies.