Justice sociale, inégalités, exclusion

Abstract

[eng] Social justice, inequality, exclusion Mireille Elbaum Throughout the sixties and seventies in France, the question of ine- quality was at the very core of the social debate over the distribution of the fruits of growth. Since the beginning of the eighties, the very idea of combating inequality was however challenged and seen as inadequate, or even outmoded. New theoretical developments advanced concepts of justice which seemed to suggest a renewed consensus of opinion converging towards the notion of « equity », or which referred to complex and plural concepts of justice, born from the confrontation of diverse ways of reasoning. And the concomitant, often reductionist, re-interpretation indirectly resulted in a situation whereby the priority formerly given to the problem of inequa- lity within economic and social policies was abandoned. In this context, the attenuation of traditional disparities in income, property, and living conditions ceased in the eighties. The mechanisms guiding the reproduction of « social classifications » were hardly questio- ned, despite the upheaval which occured within professional and social structures. And the « democratisation » of education did not, in itself, have any significant effect on the « inequality of opportunities », in a context where the diploma as a criterion for entering the working world could only exacerbate expectations and frustrations vis-a-vis the school system. Above all, with the development of mass unemployment, problems of precarlousness and underemployment were thereafter presented as the main type of inequality afflicting French society. The growing awareness of the existence of « new forms of poverty », partially revealed by the « RMI » (French system of income support), contributed to challenging the global objective of combating inequality, and resulted in a more and more extensive, commonplace use of the notion of « exclusion », making the « fight against exclusion » a policy in itself, disassociated from the overall functioning of the society. Furthermore, the challenge to inequality was also set against a « necessity for economic efficiency » which, according to certain theories, called for a greater dispersion in salaries, and a system of benefits and witholdings that would not penalise increases in income. The pertinence of these theories is however questionable ; the link between social dispa- rities and economic performances has not been established, whether we consider a dispersion in salaries on the whole, the specific role of the minimum wage, or the effects of unemployment compensation and wel- fare benefits. It would appear dangerous, in France, to envisage an economic and social model based on an increase in disparities, with the risk of affecting the economy's global competitiveness, of developing poverty further and of pushing workers to opt for idleness when confronted with low wages, all in return for an only apparent decrease in unemployment. Even if new contours and new methods are needed, global policies to combat inequality mu...

Mobility Justice as a Political Object

“…Les enjeux sociaux de l'accès à la mobilité se renforcent à partir des années 1990, avec la montée en puissance de la lutte contre l'exclusion, qui traduit une transformation de la question sociale (Fol et Gallez 2017). En Europe, les politiques de retour à l'emploi, qui visent une autonomisation et une responsabilisation des personnes en situation de précarité, remplacent progressivement l'approche redistributive de l'aide aux chômeurs créée après la deuxième guerre mondiale (Elbaum 1995). Dans ce contexte, l'accès à la mobilité est présenté comme un facteur essentiel d'employabilité des personnes (Fol 2009).…”

From poverty to exclusion: a wage‐earning society or a society of human rights?

“…First, we might note, with many others, that, with the passage of time, the question of inequality of conditions that was at the heart of the social debate (notably in France) in the 1960s and 1970s has been gradually abandoned in favour of a more liberal themeequity and equality of opportunitywith the result that this movement has led on the one hand to social policies focused solely on the problem of combating exclusion, abandoning more general goals of reducing inequality, and on the other, to the use of an increasingly general notion with a multiplicity of meaningsexclusionwhich is thus becoming inoperative both theoretically and from a practical point of view (Elbaum, 1995;Join-Lambert, 1995). The same movement can also be seen as the gradual shifting of a series of problems focusing on issues of distribution to a more relational approach focusing on social ties and integration (Room, 1994).…”