Co-inclusion: problematising binary understandings of social inclusion

ABSTRACT

This paper responds to a gap between theorists' bilateral understandings of social inclusion and the more unilateral understandings available to refugee support practitioners. We argue that scholarly work on social inclusion does not consistently reflect intercultural conceptualisations of societies as emergent spaces continually coming into being through the participation of all their members and bilateral understandings can institutionalise ‘local/newcomer’ power asymmetries. Our intercultural field can learn from the concept of co-inclusion which encapsulates key tenets of intercultural thinking and promotes a horizontal, collective, ongoing process of social inclusion that involves all members of a given society.

Υπάρχϵι ένα κϵνό ανάμϵσα στις διμϵρϵίς θϵωρητικές προσϵγγίσϵις της κοινωνικής ένταξης και τις άμϵσα διαθέσιμϵς σϵ ϵπαγγϵλματίϵς υποστήριξης προσφύγων πιο μονομϵρϵίς αντιλήψϵις. Υποστηρίζουμϵ ότι οι διαπολιτισμικές ϵννοιολογήσϵις των κοινωνιών ως αναδυόμϵνων χώρων που βρίσκονται σϵ μια διαρκή ροή αναγέννησης μέσω της συμμϵτοχής όλων των μϵλών τους δϵν αποτυπώνϵται μϵ συνέπϵια στις ακαδημαϊκές ϵργασίϵς για την κοινωνική ένταξη και ότι οι διμϵρϵίς θϵάσϵις της κοινωνικής ένταξης θϵσμοποιούν ασυμμϵτρίϵς ϵξουσίας στην δυάδα ‘ντόπιος/νϵοαφιχθϵίς’. Ο διαπολιτισμικός κλάδος μας μπορϵί να ϵπωφϵληθϵί από την έννοια της συνένταξης, η οποία πϵριέχϵι βασικές αρχές του διαπολιτισμικού πϵδίου και προωθϵί μία οριζόντια, συλλογική, συνϵχή διαδικασία κοινωνικής ένταξης που πϵριλαμβάνϵι όλα τα μέλη κάθϵ κοινωνίας.

KEYWORDS:

• Co-inclusion
• migrants
• refugees
• social inclusion
• Greece
• integration

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the Greek Council for Refugees and all the Pyxida participants who shared with the first author their experiences of social inclusion.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Τhe participant names are pseudonyms.

2 The quote arose during Greek-medium interviews involving the first author as part of an (as yet unpublished) ethnographic study of Pyxida.

3 https://www.gcr.gr/en/pyxida-multicultural-center-en.

4 In Greek, the prefix συν- [syn] becomes συμ [sym] when the letter π [p] follows.

5 In this case, we will be marking the author(s’) term of preference with double quotation marks.

6 Original translation into English by Frangiskou et al. (2020) as adapted by the first author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Eva Polymenakou

Eva Polymenakou is an Adjunct Lecturer of English at the School of Engineering of the University of West Attica in Athens, Greece. She holds a PhD in Intercultural Communication and Education from the Department of Education, University of Bath, UK. Her research interests include: experiential intercultural learning, intercultural encounters, community-based learning, teacher education, foreign language education social justice and migrant and refugee experiences in Greece.

Richard Fay

Richard Fay is a Senior Lecturer in Education (TESOL and Intercultural Communication) at Manchester Institute of Education at The University of Manchester. His teaching and research interests include: researching multilingually, the languaging of research, intercultural ethics and epistemic injustice, refugee language education, and intercultural musicking. He is a Series Editor for the Multilingual Matters Researching Multilingually book series.