From bonds to bridges: towards a social cohesion barometer for South Africa

Abstract

How does one measure social cohesion that elusive but highly desirable attribute of a nation referring to a sense of solidarity and a safer, caring, more equal and harmonious national society? The South African Social Cohesion Barometer project attempted to do just that by developing a measurement tool for social cohesion using data from the South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS). Jare Struwig, Ben Roberts and YUL DEREK DAVIDS explain the complexity of this task and summarise some findings.