Samenvatting

This chapter explores the current discussions and policies towards social exclusion and cohesion in Europe. In a first section will briefly be identified how the wording in the social work discourse changed from originally the thinking in terms of poverty to the ideas of social cohesion nowadays. The section will conclude in the existence of two different perspectives on social cohesion: a socio-economic and a socio-cultural perspective. Next section will discuss the socio-economic approach as mainstream thinking in the European Union. Furthermore, the socio-cultural debate on social cohesion will be discussed in the third section. Finally, some of the consequences of these discussions for social work practice will be explored.