Social inclusion of young people. Being socially included on the Edge?

Barbara Giovanna Bello1

Abstract
Social inclusion is a fuzzy concept which has been differently defined depending on legal and political contexts in Europe and beyond. Within European institutions such as the European Union and the Council of Europe, the social inclusion of both adult and young people has gained space and importance, due to the demographic challenges of an ageing society, precariousness generated by the economic crisis and the difficult transition for young people to an independent and satisfying adulthood, with respect to previous generations and in spite of their higher levels of education. This position paper will first focus on the concept of social inclusion emerged in the European institutions and policies and then it will embark on the analysis of what social inclusion emerges to be according to Edgeryders. The critical analysis can help to check whether the understanding of social inclusion emerged in the EU policy does match or not with the Edgeryders view on this very concept and on the ways in which it should be pursued in relation to youth in Europe and beyond, according to them.

University of Milano, Italy. Member of PEYR (Pool of European Youth Researchers )

I. What does Social Inclusion mean for European institutions? Different approaches 1. Social Inclusion in youth policies in a nutshell. 2. Social Inclusion in European policies: Meanings and interpretations 3. The link between social inclusion, the EU anti-discrimination law and policies and equal opportunities: targeted approaches vs. broad policy for the social inclusion of youth. II. What can be inferred on Social Inclusion from the Edgeryders inputs? 4. Edgeryders who are they, how and what they can contribute? 5. Are edgeryders socially included? Do they strive for more social inclusion? 6. Social inclusion for whom? III. Conclusions: What would social inclusion/social cohesion policies look like if they were based on Edgeryders data? IV. Bibliography

I. What does Social Inclusion mean for European institutions? Different approaches2
1. Social inclusion in the youth policies in a nutshell.
The Lisbon Strategy3 (March 2000) integrated a youth perspective in many fields related to young peoples life, such as education, employment, social inclusion and civil society. In this framework, in the making of the insightful White Paper on youth of 2001,4 it became clear that young people needed to be included, together with researchers and policy makers, in the drawing of youth-related documents as well as in their evaluation. With this aim, a Europe-wide consultation took place between May 2000 and March 2001, which involved hundreds young Europeans, from all backgrounds and countries.
2

The theoretical part of this paper heavily elaborates on the theoretical paragraphs of my Ph.D dissertation Looking at the EU Anti-Discrimination Measures Towards the Roma People through the Glass of Intersectionality: a Comparative Study, defended on 17 January 2012 at the University Statale of Milano
3

See at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/summits/lis1_en.htm#a [Accessed on 30 June 2012].

European Commission White Paper. A New Impetus for European Youth, COM(2001) 681 final, Brussels, 21.11.2001, pp. 76. Available at: http://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2001:0681:FIN:EN:PDF [Accessed on 30 June 2012].

The proposals concerning the issue of social inclusion, coming out from the consultations, in order to enhance and reinforce national, regional and local measures as part of the European Social Inclusion Strategy,5 are: Giving young people access to resources, rights and services: decent and healthy housing; appropriate healthcare; other public and private services, e.g. in the field of justice, culture, sport and leisure; access to these new resources, rights and services geared to the particular needs of young people with social and economic difficulties; second chance opportunities for young people who drop out of tailor-made schemes (such as in rehabilitation, vocational training, etc).Developing preventive approaches to address the causes of the social exclusion of young people at a very early stage: Focus on individual needs through a more people-centred approach. Give special attention to the needs of young people at local and regional level in terms of health centres, guidance/counselling, cultural activities,sports, day nurseries, housing, transport, etc., especially for those who are socially excluded or face the risk of social exclusion (such as young single parents). Improve the social inclusion of ethnic minorities. Enhance conflict resolution with the help of social workers. Ensure that policies focusing on working conditions, on social rights and on social welfare are systematically implemented. Reforming the social security systems and social legislation: Ensure inter-generational solidarity in pension schemes. Eliminate discrimination in social welfare systems (e.g. against women, disabled young people, ethnic minorities). Take into account the needs of young people, especially those who are disadvantaged, in social legislation in areas such as precarious work contracts, flexible working hours, equal payments, accidents at work, access to care facilities for young families. Provide young people with information on their rights and social protection. At European level:

European Commission, Ibid., p. 44.

- Giving priority, in terms of social inclusion measures, to the needs of the most vulnerable young people; - Stepping up work on the social inclusion of young people, with the help of European programmes; - Contributing to young people's social inclusion by using an approach based on pathways and stepping stones in European-level employment programmes and policies.6 Since then, several aspects of the social inclusion of young people have been integrated within National Action Plans7. Some of these are: developing a labour market which fosters the inclusion of young people; providing young people in difficulties with adequate resources and incomes; fostering the access to quality services (housing, health, culture and justice); paying special attention to members of minorities, young women in precarious employment, and young disabled people. While it became increasingly clear that young peoples higher formal educational levels did not guarantee a true inclusion into the labour market, the White Paper assumed that employment is a prerequisite for social inclusion. In the foreword to the Social Inclusion T-Kit,8 Pierre Mairesse, then EU Commission Director for Youth, Sport and Citizenship, announced that the European Commission and the National YOUTH-Agencies9 were implementing a Strategy for the inclusion of young people with fewer opportunities10 into the Youth- Programme,11 aiming at the full involvement of young people with fewer opportunities, while contributing to social cohesion in general. In 2005, the re-launch of the Lisbon Strategy placed even stronger emphasis on growth and employment.12

European Commission, Ibid..

For more information on the National Action Plans, see at: http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=750&langId=en
8

Croft, Tom, Crolla, Veronique & Benot Mida-Briot. 2003. T-Kit No. 8 - Social Inclusion. Available at: http://youth-partnership-eu.coe.int/youthpartnership/documents/Publications/T_kits/8/tkit8.pdf [ Accessed on 30 June 2012].
9

The list of the National Youth Agencies are available at: http://ec.europa.eu/youth/youth/doc152_en.htm [ Accessed on 30 June 2012].
10

For the concept young people with fewer opportunities, see below at the end of part 2.

11

For more information on the Youth Programme, see at: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/youth/ [Accessed on 30 June 2012].
12

Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament. Common Actions for Growth and Employment: The Community Lisbon Programme [SEC(2005) 981],

The new EU Youth Strategy for the period from 2010 to 2018, which still stresses the need to pay particular attention to young people with fewer opportunities, has two overarching objectives for all young people:
1.

to provide more and equal opportunities for young people in education and in the labor market; to encourage young people to be active citizens and participate in society.13

2.

This strategy proposes initiatives in eight fields of action, including social inclusion.14 As far as the Council of Europe is concerned, it has been stepping efforts to promote youth social cohesion for 40 years, focusing on the following goals:15

Empowering all young people to access their social rights; Recognition of youth work and non-formal education; Supporting young peoples autonomy and well-being; Enabling young people to make the transition from education to work; Integrating excluded young people.

In this framework, Peter Lauritzen remembered that [Y]outh policy is about inclusion and access.16 Factors like the high unemployment rates, reduced equal opportunities in education in many countries of the Council of Europe, lead to marginalization and social exclusion of many young people around the world.17 In this perspective the All different,
available at: http://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2005:0330:FIN:EN:PDF [Accessed on 30 June 2012].
13

Communication from the Commission to the Council, to the European Parliament, to the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. An EU Strategy for Youth Investing and Empowering A renewed open method of coordination to address youth challenges and opportunities {SEC(2009) 545}, available at: http://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2009:0200:FIN:EN:PDF [Accessed on 30 June 2012].
14

Other sectors are: education and training, employment and entrepreneurship, health and wellbeing, participation, voluntary activities, youth and the world and creativity and culture.
15

See the following webpage: http://www.coe.int/en/40th-anniversary-of-the-strasbourgeuropean-youth-centre [Accessed on 30 June 2012].

16

Croft, Tom, Crolla, Veronique & Benot Mida-Briot. 2003. Op. cit., p. 7.

17

Parveva, Teodora, Colley, P Helen, Hoskin, Bryony s & Boetzelen, Philipp. Social inclusion and young people:breaking down the barriers. Available at: http://youth-partnership-

All equal" Campaign represented the call of the Council of Europe for diversity, human rights and participation.18

2. Social Inclusion in European policies: meanings and interpretations

Both within the Council of Europe and the European Union, the concept of social inclusion has been extensively adopted. Within the Council of Europe, the debate around social inclusion has been mainly taking place within the framework of promoting social cohesion. A strategy was defined by the European Committee for Social Cohesion in 2000, and later on revised and adopted by the Committee of Ministers in 2004,19 which is articulated around combating social exclusion and poverty and it is rooted in two fundamental documents of the Council of Europe: the European Convention on Human Rights20 and the Revised European Social Charter.21 Hereafter, I will concentrate on the concept of social inclusion used within the European Union, due to the impetus which had been given to the policies fostering social inclusion within this institution through the open method of coordination on social protection and social inclusion.22 In fact, the EU provides a framework for national strategy development, as well as for coordinating policies between EU countries on issues relating to poverty and social exclusion. It also promote social economy as a mean of

eu.coe.int/youthpartnership/documents/EKCYP/Youth_Policy/docs/Cohesion/Research/2007_Social_inclusion_y oung_people.pdf [Accessed on 30 June 2012].

18

See the webpage http://www.coe.int/t/dg4/youth/coe_youth/adae_campaign_EN.asp#P14_338 [Accessed on 30 June 2012].

19

Parveva, Teodora, Colley, P Helen, Hoskin, Bryony s & Boetzelen, Philipp. Social inclusion and young people: breaking down the barriers. Op. Cit..
20

The full text of the European Convention of Human Rights is retrievable from: http://www.echr.coe.int/NR/rdonlyres/D5CC24A7-DC13-4318-B4575C9014916D7A/0/CONVENTION_ENG_WEB.pdf [Accessed on 30 June 2012].
21

The full text of the Revised European Social Charter is available at: http://www.coe.int/T/DGHL/Monitoring/SocialCharter/ [Accessed on 30 June 2012].
22

See the webpage: http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=750&langId=en [Accessed 04 June 2012]. Much of the following part of this paper heavily relies on my Ph.D. Dissertation Looking at the EU antidiscrimination measures towards the Roma people through the glass of intersectionality. A Comparative Study, defended on 17 January 2012 at the University of Milano.

offering updated solutions to emerging social needs which are not adequately managed by either the public sector or the private one.23 As Levitas out-points, [S]ocial inclusion is now the central legitimating concept of social policy in Europe and elsewhere24. A definition of this term, though, can hardly be found in the European documents aiming at social inclusion. In some cases, the concept of social exclusion has been defined instead. Levitas provides a descriptive analysis of social exclusion based on three different streams:
1.

The redistributive discourse (RED), which conceives social exclusion as a consequence of poverty. In this perspective, poverty is not defined only in terms of income, but as of people's ability to participate in the customary life of society as well.25 The social integration discourse (SID), which is based on social integration through paid work (SID), living little or no room to other kind of benefits. According to Levitas, this approach prevails in the mid-Nineties. The moral underclass discourse (MUD), which focuses on the moral and cultural causes of poverty and uses the rhetoric of the dangerous classes and problem groups.

2.

3.

According to this scholar, the EU Nice criteria for the National Inclusion Plans, agreed at the Nice European Council in December 2000,26 integrate both RED and SID. Another scholar, Mary Daly27 explains that the concept of social exclusion, which has spread across Europe under the lead of EU institutions since the late Eighties, can be

23

See the webpage http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/sme/promotingentrepreneurship/social-economy/ [Accessed on 30 August 2012] ; see also http://www.peerreview-social-inclusion.eu/peer-reviews/2012/social-economy [Accessed on 30 August 2012].
24

Levitas, R., 2003. The Idea of Social Inclusion. Social Inclusion research Centre. Available at: http://www.ccsd.ca/events/inclusion/papers/rlevitas.htm [Accessed on 30 June 2012].
25

26

For more information on the Nice European Council see at: http://ec.europa.eu/nice_council/index_en.htm [Accessed 04 June 2012].
27

Mary Daly rightly notes that the EU debate on social exclusion had appeared for at least 10 years before the Lisbon agreement, but it was since 2000 that the States have started to elaborate National Action Plans integrating this concept. Daly, M., 2006. Social Exclusion as Concept and Policy Template in the European Union. Centre for European Studies Working Paper Series, pp. 5-6. Available at: http://www.ces.fas.harvard.edu/publications/docs/pdfs/Daly135.pdf [Accessed on 30 June 2012].

traced back to the Seventies in France and relies upon a variety of theoretical streams. According to this scholar, the tenets of this concept are rooted in three political philosophies:28 French republicanism,29 which endows social exclusion with the understanding of the role of the state as an architect of social solidarity;30social Catholicism31 and social democracy, 32 which add to the concept of social inclusion insights from redistributive state policies, social ties and obligations. Daly and Silver state:33 The concept [My note: social exclusion] views social ills not as clearly delimited social problems, but as part of the most fundamental social relationthat of belonging or not belonging to ones society. The rupture of the social bond can take many forms: abandonment, segregation, assistance, marginalization, and discrimination. As the European usage of social exclusion has intensified, it has become a guiding concept in a wide range of research on deprivation and inequalities. Its emphasis on social relationships, participation, and customary way of life distances the concept from the tradition of work on poverty which focuses more on financial well-being, consumption, and income inadequacy. Hilary Silvers34 theoretical distinctions on social exclusion is regarded as central by many scholars ( e.g. Chiara Saraceno35). Silver identifies three different paradigms within which the notion of social exclusion has flourished. The first one is the French tradition of solidarity (solidarisme), which conceives social exclusion as a deficiency of solidarity and as a rupture in the social

28

In the same vein, see also Saraceno, C., 2001. Social Exclusion: Cultural Roots and Diversities of a Popular Concept. Paper presented at the conference on Social Exclusion and Children. Institute for Child and Family Policy, Columbia University, 3-4 May 2001. Available on www.childpolicy.org [Accessed 04 June 2012].
29

Ren Lenoir, Secretary of the State for Social Action within the so called Gaullist Chirac Government, is credited to have coined the term social exclusion in 1974. Silver, H., 1994. Social Exclusion and Social Solidarity: Three Paradigms. International Labour Review, 133, 56, p. 532.
30

Daly, M. & Silver, H., 2008. Social Exclusion and Social Capital: A Comparison and Critique.Theory and Society , 37, p. 539.
31

Daly, M., 2006. Op. cit., p. 3. Daly, M., 2006. Ibid., p. 3. Daly, M. & Silver, H., Ibid. Silver, H., 1994. Op. cit. Saraceno, C., 2001. Op. cit., p. 6.

32

33

34

35

bond (fr: lien social) between the individual and society.36 The second paradigm (specialization), goes back to the Anglo-American liberal individualism and considers exclusion as a consequence of the differentiation, economic division of labour and the separation of social spheres.37 It occurs when people have no access to economic and social exchanges, because of discriminations or group distinctions. The third approach (monopoly paradigm) relies on conflict theory (particularly on the Weberian though) and conceives social exclusion, which incorporates the notion of inequality, as a consequence of group monopoly. In this perspective, the monopoly of key resources is used by institutions and status groups in order to both create boundaries excluding Others and to perpetuate inequalities. Silver locates the then EU understanding of social exclusion within this last paradigm, according to which unequal power and social closure underlying group monopolies can be mitigated through inclusive citizenship (in Marshallian terms)38 and social rights. With regard to the EU documents since 2000, Daly and Silver39 state that, in the first period of the Lisbon strategy (from 2000 to 2004), the concept of social exclusion was predominantly used and it was linked with the attempt to create policies fostering the access to employment, to basic resources, goods and services, through the mobilization of NGOs which give voice to the excluded. The emphasis was placed on social rights and on identity-based social policy. According to these two authors, the re-launch of the Lisbon strategy in 2005, which is focused on growth and jobs, has changed the understanding of social exclusion by EU policy makers, turning it into peoples involvement in the labor market and their access to a basic level of rights and services. They argue that with the increasing emphasis on activation, the EU Commission and Council have gradually shifted social inclusion from a matter of social and economic functioning to one of employment and the sustainability of benefit systems. References to social exclusion have gradually fallen away, in favor of social inclusion initially, and over time, especially in the past few years, social cohesion. This switch from social exclusion to social inclusion has been interpreted as an attempt to sound positive instead of negative, pronouncing a goal rather than describing a problem.40 Daly and Silver contest that social exclusion should be necessarily understood as just the contrary of inclusion because, whereas inclusion calls attention to the supposed opportunity and

36

Silver, H. and S.M. Miller, 2003. The European Approach to Social Disadvantage, p.3. Available at: http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Sociology/faculty/hsilver/documents/silver_and_millereuropean_approach_to_social_disadvantage.pdf [Accessed on 30 June 2012].
37

Silver, H., 1994. Op. cit, p. 542. Silver, H., 1994. Op. cit.

38

39

Daly, M. & Silver, H. 2008. Op. cit. This idea is shared by Ruth Levitas in Levitas, R., 1998. Op.cit.
40

Daly, M. & Silver, H. 2008. Ibid., p. 551.

openness of society, beckoning outsiders in,41 exclusion points at exclusionary mechanisms of society, its potential breakdown, disorder, or incoherence.42 From a closer look to the EU documents since 2000, I could infer that there has been an oscillation, as Saraceno puts it,43 within the EU institutions between the broader meanings of social exclusion as well as social inclusion and a narrow meaning of them referring to social rights connected with the participation in the labor market. In this sense, I agree with the mentioned scholar, who identified these two trends even within the same European Commissions Communication of 2000.44 In fact, this document, on the one hand, reads: Employment is the key route to integration and social inclusion; unemployment is the major factor of exclusion, particularly long-term unemployment and the increasing concentration of unemployment in households with no one in work.45 On the other hand, this document states, in the same page, that: The extent of social exclusion calls on the responsibility of society to ensure equal opportunities for all. This includes equal access to the labor market, to education, to health care, to the judicial system, to rights and to decision-making and participation, as well as that: social exclusion goes beyond issues of unemployment and access to the labor market. It is evidenced by several types of deprivation and barriers, which alone or together prevent the full participation in areas such as education, health, environment, housing, culture, access to rights or family support, as well as training and job opportunities. Discrimination and xenophobia can exacerbate social exclusion, in particular for immigrants. Social exclusion also raises particular questions in relation to social protection policies most notably the safety net schemes and their related measures. It calls for attention to education, and training policies, in particular with the view that life long learning is becoming vital if people are to be empowered to act as full members of the knowledge and information society. Access to and the quality of public and private services are also major issues as well as care services. Fighting against school failure and ensuring access to the technology of the Knowledge Society, and the skills and competence needed to take advantage of it is also essential to ensure that the

41

Daly, M. & Silver, H. 2008. Ibid. Daly, M. & Silver, H. 2008. Ibid. Saraceno, C., 2001. Op. cit., p. 3. European Commission, 2000. Building an Inclusive Europe. Available at:

42

43

44

http://www.at4inclusion.org/bridge/docs/building.pdf [Accessed 04 September 2010];

45

European Commission, 2000. Ibid., p. 6.

10

information age does not actually create new divisions in society but rather promotes inclusion and cohesion.46 This oscillation refers also to recent documents, after the Lisbon and Nice summits. Moreover, it has to be underlined that, with regard to particular target groups (e.g. Roma young people), the EU documents take a broader approach to social exclusion and inclusion. Such an overarching concept of social inclusion, which complements the notion of poverty in many EU documents, implies the idea that people should benefit from both integration and economic growth, as well as from participation in other spheres of life. In 2007, the main definitions of social inclusion and social exclusion, provided by the European Union, could be found in the European Commission Communication Joint Report on Social Exclusion. Summarizing the Results of the Examination of the National Action Plans for Social Inclusion of 2003.47 In this document, the EU defines social inclusion as follows: Social inclusion is a process which ensures that those at risk of poverty and social exclusion gain the opportunities and resources necessary to participate fully in economic, social and cultural life and to enjoy a standard of living and well-being that is considered normal in the society in which they live. It ensures that they have a greater participation in decision making which affects their lives and access to their fundamental rights.48 The EU defines also its antonym, i.e. social exclusion: Social exclusion is a process whereby certain individuals are pushed to the edge of society and prevented from participating fully by virtue of their poverty, or lack of basic competencies and lifelong learning opportunities, or as a result of discrimination. This distances them from job, income and education and training opportunities, as well as social and community networks and activities. They have little access to power and decision-making bodies and thus often feel powerless and unable to take control over the decisions that affect their day to day lives.49

46

European Commission, 2000. Ibid.

47

European Commission, 2003. Communication from the Commission to the Council, theEuropean Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. Joint Report on Social Exclusion Summarizing the Results of the Examination of the National Action Plans for Social Inclusion 2003-2005, SEC 2003 1425. Available at: http://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=COM:2003:0773:FIN:EN:PDF [Accessed on 30 June 2012].
48

European Commission, 2003. Ibid., p. 9. European Commission, 2003. Ibid.

49

11

Besides these definitions, the Inclusion Strategy of the Youth in Action Program,50 issued by the European Commission in 2007, draws attention on the definition of inclusion projects, and, in so doing, sheds some light on the concept of social inclusion in the youth sector. More precisely, this document distinguishes: a) inclusion projects, that purposefully include young people with fewer opportunities as active participants in the projects (providing tailor-made preparation, support, monitoring and follow-up for them); b) inclusion projects, that aim at improving youth inclusion in relation to one or more of the obstacles faced by young people with fewer opportunities, through awarenessraising, or collaborative work towards projects with young people with fewer opportunities (training courses and networking), exchange of good practices, etc. In July and October 2008, the EU expressly came back to the matter of social inclusion (or exclusion) with, respectively, two other documents: the Staff Working Document accompanying the Communication of the European Commission Non- Discrimination and Equal Opportunities: A Renewed Commitment51 and the Joint Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the European Year for Combating poverty and Social Exclusion (2010).52 These documents do not provide any new definitions of social inclusion but better define them. The Joint Decision, for example, stresses the possible, although not necessary, link between poverty and social exclusion: In their National Action Plans on Social Inclusion, several Member States highlight the high poverty and/or exclusion risk faced by particular groups, including children, early school leavers, single parents, large families, families with a single income, young

50

European Commission, 2007. Inclusion Strategy of the Youth in Action Program. Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/youth/documents/inclusion-strategy_en.pdf [Accessed on 30 June 2012].
51

European Commission, 2008. Staff Working Document Non-Discrimination and equal Opportunities: A Renewed Commitment Community Instruments and Policies for Roma Inclusion, Accompanying the Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and social Committee and the Committee of the Regions of 2 July 2008 Non-discrimination and equal Opportunities: A renewed commitment. Community Instruments and Policies for Roma Inclusion [COM(2008) 420 final not published in the Official Journal] [Accessed on 30 June 2012].
52

European Parliament and of the Council, 2008. Decision of 22 October 2008, No 1098/2008/EC, on the European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion (2010). Available at: http://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2008:298:0020:0029:EN:PDF [Accessed on 30 June 2012].

12

people, in particular young women, older people, migrants and ethnic minorities, people with disabilities and their careers, the homeless, the unemployed, in particular the longterm unemployed, prisoners, women and children who are victims of violence, and severe substance abusers.53 In 2009, the Staff Working Document Accompanying Document to the Communication of the European Commission Youth - Investing and Empowering EU Youth Report54 was issued by the European Commission. This document takes into consideration the unequal access to opportunities among young people according to their socio-economic background. According to this document, among the reasons which expose young people to social exclusion and poverty are: early school dropouts, low educational achievements, a migrant or Roma background, mental health problems, a low socioeconomic background, disability, exposure to violence and substance abuse.55 The document points out that: The problems experienced by such groups [My note: vulnerable young people] of youth can, amongst others, be translated into decreased access to necessary services, poor health, lack of decent housing or homelessness, financial exclusion, reduced participation in the community and further exclusion from the labor market and, consequently, shorter life expectancy. Accordingly, access to education and training, increased opportunities for entering the labor market (including measures to facilitate the transition from school to work), provision of decent housing and quality health care, access to basic services such as transport and to other services such as financial services (e.g. credit), are among the welfare goods facilitating opportunities and supporting integration within society.56 Another EU source, which offers valuable hints on social exclusion, is the publication issued by the European Commission (Eurostat) in 2010.57 This publication adopts the aforesaid definition provided by the European Commission in 2003, but also adds that:

53

Whereas n. 16 of the European Parliament and of the Council, 2008. Ibid.

54

European Commission, 2009. Staff Working Document Accompanying Document to the Communication from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament, the European economic and social Committee and the Committee of the Regions, Youth - Investing and Empowering EU Youth Report, Brussels, 27 April 2009 SEC(2009) 549 final. Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/youth/news/doc/new_strategy/youth_report_final.pdf [Accessed on 30 June 2012].
55

European Commission, 2009. Ibid., p. 38. European Commission, 2009b. Ibid., p. 38.

56

57

European Commission (Eurostat), 2010. Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion. A Statistical Portrait of the European Union 2010, Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Unionpp,

13

Social exclusion is multi-dimensional in that it encompasses income poverty, unemployment, access to education, information, childcare and health facilities, living conditions, as well as social participation. It is multi-layered insofar as the causes of exclusion can be at the national, community, household or individual level.58 This short review of the definitions of social inclusion and social exclusion adopted in the main EU policy documents, led me to conclude that, by conjunctively reading them, the following EU goals can be elicited within the key concept social inclusion:
1.

To foster the recognition of the fundamental rights belonging to those excluded, as well as their right not to be discriminated against. To foster distribution through equal opportunities in the access to access resources, opportunities (included job and education opportunities), services and goods, so that everyone can enjoy a standard of living and well-being that is considered normal in the society in which they live.

2.

3. To foster participation on equal foot in economic, social and cultural life, as well as in the decision making process. Following Nancy Frasers concept of social exclusion, 59 I suggest that the definitions of social inclusion and social exclusion, emerged in the European Union, could be constructed as involving three dimensions: recognition, distribution and participation. Fraser maintains that social exclusion belongs to the family of social injustices and she builds her concept of social exclusion upon the three dimensions already used in her theory of justice. She explains: I want to introduce yet another way of thinking about social exclusion. In the view I will elaborate here, social exclusion is a species of injustice, but it is reducible neither to economic deprivation, on the one hand, nor to cultural disrespect, on the other.60 In particular, Fraser intendeds justice as parity of participation,61 according to which justice requires social arrangements that permit all members of society to interact with

p.7. Available at: http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/cache/ITY_OFFPUB/KS-EP-09-001/EN/KSEP-09-001-EN.PDF [Accessed on 30 June 2012].

58

European Commission (Eurostat), 2010. Ibid., p. 7.

59

Fraser, N. 2010. Injustice at Intersecting Scales On Social Exclusion and the Global Poor. European Journal of Social Theory, 13, 3, pp. 363371.
60

Fraser N. 2010. Ibid., p. 364.

61

Fraser N. 2010. Ibid., p. 365. See also Fraser, N., 2003. Social Justice in the Age of Identity Politics, in Nancy Fraser and Axel Honneth, Redistribution or Recognition? A PoliticalPhilosophical Exchange, trans. Joel Golb, James Ingram, and Christiane Wilke. London: Verso.

14

one other as peers.62 Even if Fraser discusses this three-dimensional approach with particular regard to globalization and post-national world, her work offers an interesting perspective also in the EU multi-governances reality. In fact, Fraser contests the centrality of nation- state as norm and context of justice discourses, which is rather part of a yet unfilled and contested continuum of discourses.63 Interestingly, she questions about the what, the who and the how of justice in the globalized world. In her view, the what of justice refers to the parity of participation. In particular, she states that: Justice requires social arrangements that permit all to participate as peers in social life. On the view of justice as participatory parity, overcoming injustice means dismantling institutionalized obstacles that prevent some people from participating on a par with others, as full partners in social interaction.64 The who of justice, meaning who is entitled to participate on equal foot with whom in which social interactions is driven by the all-subjected principle, broadly conceived in terms of relations to powers65 of various types. She says: Not restricted to states, governance structures also comprise non-state agencies that generate enforceable rules that structure important swaths of social interaction.66 Last but non the least, the how of justice combines dialogical and institutional features and implies a a process of two-way communication between civil society and new global representative institutions. According to Fraser, only those claims that promote parity of participation are morally justified. The analysis of the three dimensions are all indispensable for Frasers view of social inclusion and social exclusion, intended as participatory parity. The first dimension is recognition. According to Fraser, it is unjust that not all individuals are recognised as full partners in social interactions because of institutionalized patterns of cultural value that systematically depreciate some categories of people and the

62

Fraser N. 2010. Ibid.,p. 365.

63

Appiah, K. A., Benhabib, S. et al., 2007. Justice, Governance, Cosmopolitanism, and the Politics of Difference Reconfigurations in a Transnational World: Distinguished W.E.B. Du Bois Lectures 2004/2005, p. 12. Available at: http://edoc.hu-berlin.de/humboldt-vl/152/all/PDF/152.pdf [Accessed on 30 June 2012].
64

Fraser N. 2010. Op. cit..

65

For an interesting view on power, see the report Post I- The true nature of power, drafted by iorge.couchet, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/mine-becomes-ours/mission_case/taleabout-basic-human-decency#comment-3090 [ 25 August 2012]
66

Fraser, N., 2009. Scales of Social Justice. Reimagining Political Space in a Globalizing World. Columbia University Press, p. 65.

15

qualities associated with them, thus denying them the status of full partners in social interaction.67 Her idea of recognition relies on the Weberian concept of social status defined by the relations of recognition, which are distinguished by the lesser esteem, honor, and prestige they enjoy relative to other groups in society. In particular, she refers to the Weberian case of the low status ethnic groups, whom dominant cultural patterns of interpretation and valuation mark as different and less worthy, to the detriment of group members social standing and their chances of winning social esteem.68 This status model of recognition represents an alternative to the standard identity model. Namely, Fraser suggests that, nowadays, what requires recognition is not group-specific identity but the status of individual group members as full partners of social interaction.69 Consequently, according to her, the lack of recognition or misrecognition does not mean the depreciation and deformation of group identity, but social subordination.70 According to Fraser, mis-recognition is produced and kept through both formal (e.g. juridified or codified) and informal (e.g. social practices) institutionalized patterns, that she defines as the social working of social institutions that regulate interaction according to parity impeding cultural norm.71 In this perspective, to redress misrecognition means replacing institutionalised value patterns that impede parity of participation with ones that enable and foster it. The second dimension is distribution of material resources, which should guarantee participants independence and voice. According to Fraser, this condition precludes economic structures that institutionalize deprivation, exploitation, and gross disparities in wealth, income, labour and leisure time, thereby denying some people the means and opportunities to interact with others as peers.72 The scholar argues that the remedy for

67

Fraser N. 2010. Ibid., p. 365.

68

Fraser, N., 1996. Social Justice in the Age of Identity Politics: Redistribution, Recognition, and Participation. The Tanner Lectures on Human Values. Paper delivered at the Stanford University, April 30May 2, 1996, p. 8. Available at: http://www.intelligenceispower.com/Important%20Emails% 20Sent%20attachments/Social%20Justice%20in%20the%20Age%20of%20Identity%20Politics.p df [Accessed on 30 June 2012].
69

Fraser, N., 2000. Rethinking Recognition. New Left Review, 3, p.113.

70

Fraser, N., 2000. Ibid.. Fraser, N., 2000. Ibid., p. 114.

71

72

Fraser. N., 2001. Social Justice in the Knowledge Society: Redistribution, Recognition, and Participation, p. 6. Available at:

16

injustice is some sort of economic restructuring, such as reorganizing the division of labour, redistributing income or wealth, etc. It is important to mention that Frasers concept of distribution encompasses both affirmative redistribution, which seeks to redress economic subordination by altering end-state patterns of allocation, e.g. through affirmative actions, but it leaves intact the mechanisms that generate mal-distribution; and transformative redistribution, which aims to change the structures that generate mal-distribution. For example, it would change the social division of labour, reducing social inequality without creating stigmatized classes of vulnerable people perceived as beneficiaries of special largesse. The third dimension is political participation. The political structure of society should accord equal political voice to all social actors. This condition rules out electoral decision rules and media structures that systematically deprive some people of their fair chance to influence decisions that affect them. The related form oppression is political marginalization or exclusion.

3. The link between social inclusion, the EU anti-discrimination law and policies and equal opportunities: Targeted approaches vs. broad policy for the social inclusion of youth
Since year 2000, the social inclusion policies and the non-discrimination principle have been increasingly connected, both in the general discourse and in relation to targeted groups.73 In 2000, the Council of the European Union adopted two anti-discrimination directives banning direct and indirect discriminations, as well as harassment and instructions to discriminate, on grounds of racial or ethnic origin in the fields of employment, training, education, social security, healthcare, housing and access to goods and services (Council Directive 2000/43/EC)74 and on grounds of religion or

http://www.wissensgesellschaft.org/themen/orientierung/socialjustice.pdf [ Accessed on 30 June 2012].

73

Andreanelli, M., 2008. Anti Discrimination and Social Inclusion of Vulnerable Groups. Fact Sheets on the European Union, p. 4. Available at: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/parliament/expert/displayFtu.do?language=en&id=74&ftuId=FTU_ 4.9.8.html [Accessed on 30 June 2012]; European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC) and the Roma Education Fund (REF), 2010. Improving the Tools for the Social Inclusion and NonDiscrimination of Roma in the EU. Report, prepared for the European Commission, Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, pp. 64.
74

Council Directive 2000/43/EC of 29 June 2000, Implementing the Principle of equal Treatment between Persons irrespective of racial or ethnic Origin,. Available at: http://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32000L0043:en:HTML [ Accessed on 30 June 2012].

17

belief, disability, age and sexual orientation, in the more restricted area of employment and occupation, as well as vocational training (2000/78/EC).75 This legislation complemented the existing EU legislation contrasting gender discrimination, by both drawing inspiration from it and nurturing it with new tools for combating discriminations.76 Looking closer at the EU social inclusion of young people, a twofold approach can be noted in the policies of both the Council of Europe and the European Union. In fact, on the one hand, they have been considered as a vulnerable group having one single identity in contraposition with adults; on the other hand, the monolithic group young people has been considered as a multifaceted group to which both vulnerable young people as well as youngsters who are well integrated in the society might belong. Consequently, one way in which the plethora of European policies aiming at including the youth can be looked at is by roughly dividing it into two main branches on the basis of the approach taken toward the youth:

An overarching approach aimed at all young people (as opposed to adult people), considered as vulnerable and at risk of exclusion e.g. from the labour market; A targeted approach toward young people which are considered by the European institutions as more vulnerable, such as young women and young people belonging to ethnic minorities (Roma young people); young refugees, disabled young people, etc.

I will hereafter provide with an example taken by the Youth in Action Programme (YiA), which supports the policy processes of the Open Method of Coordination on and youth, and finances projects addressed to young people. The activities organized under the YiA should preferably be organized by young people themselves. This programme has

75

Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000, Establishing a general Framework for equal Treatment in Employment and Occupation. Available at: http://eurlex. europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:32000L0078:EN:HTML [ Accessed on 30 June 2012].
76

For a thorough understanding of the EU anti-discrimination legislations, see European Union Fundamental Rights Agency, 2011. Handbook on European NonDiscrimination Law, pp. 156. Available at: http://fra.europa.eu/fraWebsite/attachments/182601_FRA_CASE_LAW_HANDBOOK_EN.pdf [Accessed on 30 June 2012].

18

been established for the period 2007-2013, by a Decision of the European Parliament and the Council77 and is the successor of the Youth Programme (2000-2006).78 Comparing the two Decisions establishing these youth-related Programmes, it emerges that, in the previous version (2000-2006), there was not yet any link to the EU antidiscrimination Directives, which had just been proposed by the European Commission to the Council, but had not passed yet. The promotion of active citizenship and fight against exclusion did belong to the aim of the Decision of 2000, but there were just short references to discrimination. For example, it recalled the need to focus special attention on removing discrimination and on promoting equal opportunities for women and men,79 on ensuring that all young people without discrimination, have access to the activities of this Programme80 and have equal opportunities. The principle of equality, though, is not intended to be just formal, because the Decision recommends to the Member States to take the necessary steps to ensure the efficient running of the Programme; they shall also endeavour, as far as possible, to adopt such measures as they deem necessary and desirable to remove legal and administrative obstacles to access to this Programme.81 This represents a remarkable step for the time in which the document was issued, because the substantive principle of equality was not yet officially acknowledged in all EU documents of this kind. The Decision of 2006, instead, is plenty of references to the new wave of antidiscrimination legislation of 2000. Also the principle of substantive equality has been strengthened in respect to the previous edition of the Programme because, rather than generally refer to the removal of legal and administrative obstacles, art. 6 of the Decision of 2006, calls upon the European Commission and the participating Countries to ensure that particular efforts are made with regard to young people who have particular difficulties taking part in the

77

European Parliament and of the Council, 2006. Decision No 1719/2006/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 November 2006 establishing the Youth in Action programme for the period 2007 to 2013. Available at: http://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2006:327:0030:0044:EN:PDF[Accessed on 30 June 2012].
78

European Parliament and of the Council, 2000. Decision No 1031/2000/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 April 2000 establishing the "Youth" Community action programme. Available at: http://eurlex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2000:117:0001:0010:EN:PDF [Accessed on 30 June 2012]. For general information on the Youth Programme, see also Youth Programme, see at: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/youth/ [Accessed on 30 June 2012].
79

See whereas 6of the European Parliament and of the Council, 2000. Ibid. European Parliament and of the Council, 2000. Ibid. Art. 4.2. of the European Parliament and of the Council, 2000. Ibid.

80

81

19

programme for educational, social, physical, psychological, economic or cultural reasons or because they live in remote areas. Two particular situations are specifically addressed: the condition of disable young people and young women. However, a special attention is dedicated to young people with fewer opportunities. The aforesaid Decision of 2006 itself states that the YiA Programme should foster the participation of young people with fewer opportunities, including young people with disabilities. The main document, which incorporates this holistic approach to the youth-related activities is the Inclusion Strategy of the Youth in Action Programme for the period 2007-2013. This document, which was issued by the Directorate General for Education and Culture, aims at insuring the accessibility to the Youth in Action Programme for young people with fewer opportunities and at stimulating the use of it as a tool to enhance their social inclusion, active citizenship and employability besides contributing to the social cohesion at large. This document provides a long and broad definition of young people with fewer opportunities. I entirely quote it here, in order to stress the language used by the European Commission in 2007: Young people with fewer opportunities are young people that are at a disadvantage compared to their peers because they face one or more of the situations and obstacles mentioned in the non-exhaustive list below. In certain contexts, these situations/obstacles prevent young people from having effective access to formal and non-formal education, trans-national mobility and from participation, active citizenship, empowerment and inclusion in society at large. Social obstacles: young people facing discrimination (because of gender, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, disability, etc.), young people with limited social skills or anti-social or risky sexual behaviours, young people in a precarious situation, (ex-) offenders, (ex-) drug or alcohol abusers, young and/or single parents, orphans, young people from broken families, etc. Economic obstacles: young people with a low standard of living, low income, dependence on social welfare system, long-term unemployment, homelessness, poverty, young people in debt or with financial problems, etc. Disability: young people with mental (intellectual, cognitive, learning), physical, sensory or other disabilities. Educational difficulties: young people with learning difficulties, early school-leavers and school dropouts, lower qualified persons, young people with poor school performance, etc. Cultural differences: young immigrants or refugees or descendants from immigrant or refugee families, young people belonging to a national or ethnic minority, young people with linguistic adaptation and cultural inclusion problems, etc. Health problems: young people with chronic health problems, severe illnesses or psychiatric conditions, young people with mental health problems, etc. Geographical obstacles: young people from remote or rural areas, young people living on small islands or peripheral regions, young people from urban problem zones, young people

20

from less serviced areas (limited public transport, poor facilities, abandoned villages), etc. This definition is interesting for three reasons. Firstly, it introduces a means of comparison for identifying who the young people with fewer opportunities are. More precisely, they are defined by comparing them with their peers or, at least, with those peers who presumably have access to opportunities. Secondly, the list of obstacles that are likely to dis-empower young people is not exhaustive, and consideration is given to situations in which one or more of these barriers overlap or intersect. With this regard, the document speaks about one or more of the situations and obstacles mentioned in the non-exhaustive list below. Lastly, it contextualizes the kind of obstacles that hinder young peoples inclusion and access to opportunities. It states: in certain contexts, these situations/obstacles prevent young people from having effective access to formal and non-formal education, trans-national mobility and from participation, active citizenship, empowerment and inclusion in society at large. With regard to this point, considering that, depending on the local context, young people in a region or country are confronted by specific situations, difficulties or disadvantages compared to their peers in other places, the document urges the National and Executive Agencies at the national level to further detail the importance of the above-mentioned situations/obstacles in their contexts, but always in the spirit of the legal basis of the Programme, and without excluding any particular target group. A recently issued report, in which the European Commission disseminates the results of an interim evaluation of the YiA issued in 2011,82 pinpoints that the additional financing opportunities for youth with fewer opportunities could be better promoted and defined in future. The report highlights that the attempt to effectively include this target group differ a lot because while some youth organisations take special measures to reach these young people, other ones dont. According to the report, the YiA monitoring data elicit that the actual participation in the Programme of young people with fewer opportunities is about 26%. The report suggests that the participation of this target group should be further encouraged by organizations, otherwise the Programme can fail to engage most excluded ones. Another risk that the Programme runs is to reinforce the stigma of young people defined as having fewer opportunites, who might feel unconfortable to define themselves in this way. Apart from the focus on the inclusion of youth with fewer opportunities, the YiA Programme is characterized by a major inclusiveness in respect to other specific EU Programmes (at least) for a few other reasons:

82

Youth in Action Interim Evaluation. Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/education_culture/evalreports/youth/2011/interimreport_en.pdf [Accessed 30 August 2012].

21

1) in respect to e.g. the Erasmus Programme and to the Leonardo Programme, the YiA promotes the participation of all young people, regardless of the educational background, or the artistic or cultural skills and, therefore, it is accessible from both graduated young people and early school-leavers, school dropouts and lower qualified persons; 2) in respect to the PROGRESS Programme and to the previous Community action Programme to combat discrimination, the YiA is open to all young people, independently from their affiliation to a youth NGOs. They can be just part of informal youth groups or they can even be young people who apply as individuals, independently from any belonging, at least for certain Actions of the YiA Programme. This overall view on social inclusion shows that, as for now, there is not a homogeneous definition of social inclusion and many documents define social exclusion instead. Across the years, there have been an increasing link between the EU social inclusion framework and the antidiscrimination legislation and policies, which also contributed to reach a more just society. In the youth field, the YiA programme has the unique characteristic to openly target the broad group young people with fewer opportunities and can be considered a success model, because, while the Programme is aimed at all young people, it seeks to truly involve those who are more at risk of exclusion for several grounds (ethnic ceiling, economic status, disability, etc..).

II. What can be inferred on Social Inclusion from the Edgeryders inputs?
To get an idea of social inclusion from the perspective of edgeryders, I mainly focused on the Campaign Living together, which primarily deals with young people living in a plural and intercultural society, experiencing a liquid life 83 and navigating the transition among different social contexts. Differences of opportunities are explored in various sectors: in the access to paid work, in the fulfilment of personal aspirations, in being rewarded for their own talents, in the implementation of family life, in coping with precarious life conditions. This Campaign provokes debates on the challenges generated by mobility, by meeting the others, both when we are the others who migrate for work, education, family reasons or just for adventure, as well as when we are the native meeting newcomers. This Campaign is broken into different missions:

83

Bauman, Z., 2005. Liquid Life. Cambridge: Polity.

22

The rules of the space, which seeks to explore the interactions across different spaces;84 You, me and everyone we know, which focuses on offline and online networks building and their potential for young people in coping with lack of resources and access to opportunities;85 We-mix culture, exploring mixed cultures accommodation and the boundaries between public and private spheres;86 Mine becomes ours,87 which show how sharing and exchanges resources foster inclusion in times of dearth of resources and opportunities. In this framework, different ways of sharing are explored, such as co-housing, co-working, co-owning. It also shows how mobility can be a cooperative process between newcomers and natives.88 Spotlight: Meet my family!, which sheds light on various family formations. 89 Additionally, some mission reports from other campaigns have been incorporated in my analysis, such as: a) the report on making a resilient health through networks, submitted by LucasG.90 The access to healthcare is a relevant area for testing young peoples social inclusion and it is interesting to explore how the network can fill in the gap left by governments in terms of available professionals, products and services; b) an overall view at the reports of the Campaign Making a living has also been integrated in my analysis, since unemployment and precarious jobs are considered among the main causes of social exclusion for young people in the European policies. From this last analysis, topics emerge on how the structures of the market systems, rigid curricula and human resources management prevent young people from making the most of their talents and potentials.

84

Available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/living-together/rules-space See at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/living-together/you-me-and-everyone-we-know Available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/living-together/we-mix-culture See at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/living-together/mine-becomes-ours

85

86

87

88

See for example the mission report on the new idea the Unmonasteryat: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/mine-becomes-ours/mission_case/unmonastery-some-designissues
89

See at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/living-together/spotlight-meet-my-family

90

Available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/help-build-edgeryders-p2p-schoolresilience/mission_case/report-resiliencesession-resilient-health-

23

4. Edgeryders who are they, how and what they can contribute?
That the Edgeryders project is socially inclusive itself, it is self-evident in many ways: for example, every single person wanting to contribute to it, is allowed to take part, independently from his or her age, gender, sexual orientation, race/ethnic origin, religion, social and economic status, educational level, national status. One of the main innovations of this project, if compared with other European youth initiatives (even e.g. within the Youth in Action Programme), is that, in order to participate in it, no affiliation to any youth NGO is required, no letter of reference by professors or previous employers is needed, no selection by sending or receiving institutions (e.g. like in the Leonardo Programme or in the European Voluntary Service within the Youth Programme) is asked: each edgeryder is considered and acts like an individual expert. Therefore, he or she can share his or her own expertise in order to inspire both their peers and public policies. Edgeryders are networked individuals.91 This characteristic has at least three main implications for the project and its participants:
1.

There is space for a wide and transversal exchange. Just to provide a few examples: a) intergenerational exchange, networking and solidarity are taking place in the platform. In fact, Edgeryders belong to different age ranges. Not all of them can be considered young according to the main definition provided in the European arena.92 Some of them have completed the transition to adulthood, while some others just entered their twenties. To be sure, Alberto Cottica declares that senior is not age-related rather is someone who has a high profile and useful knowledge and contacts that they can pass onto you.93 This aspect also raises the question whether for the edgeryders age should be interpreted as addressing just biological or chronological age (i.e. the date of birth), or to the social age as well, which refers to the social construction of age, implying societal attitudes, assumptions, barriers and roles connected with age;94 b) the challenges of gender issues in daily life have been raised in some missions from both women and mens perspective; c) changes to family

91

See at: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B81XQfRCH7JmLTkxRDNWZ2xtZEk/edit?pli=1, slide n. 11 of the power point presentation.

92

Mahidi, M., 2011. The Young and the Rightless? The Protection of Youth Rights in Europe.Available at: http://issuu.com/yomag/docs/the-young-and-the-rightless_the-protectionofyout [Accessed 04 September 2010].
93

Alberto Cottica, Senior is not age-related, at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/mine-becomesours/mission_case/cocoworkers-trendsetters-illustrated-chronicle-rising-activities-loft#comment1664

94

Mahidi, M., 2011. Op. cit., p. 27.

24

formation in respect to nuclear family have also been debated, including singleparent families and same-sex relationships;
2.

Within the edgeryders project, citizenship and the exercise of the rights attached to it, are not depending on holding a national status, an I.D. card or a passport. This does not mean that for the edgeryders accessing the citizenship and related rights is not relevant: in fact, the impressive mission described by Medhin Paolos95 show the exclusion and frustration suffered by many so defined second generation young people born and bread in Italy, who are struggling to become Italian citizens, due to the restrictions of the ethno-centric Italian nationality law. It rather implies that each person (stateless, refugee, citizen, etc.) can have a say in the edgeryders project and, in doing so, can become a protagonist of his or her own life and can impact public policy; A genuine and generous horizontal perspective has been implemented in the project: throughout the edgeryders platform, the participants themselves decide what is inspiring for them, whom they want to join and meet. What is even more revolutionary, edgeryders are exchanging their know-how for free! This does not mean that the edgeryders platform cannot generate business initiatives, cooperations, partnerships and lucrative activities, but the whole exchange of information, material, help, time and support is mostly voluntary-based.96 Differently from other projects and programmes, there is not a top-down established committee or bureauocratic procedure deciding which initiatives promoted by young people are meaningful or not for the society. The issue of fairness and efficiency in the selection process has been touched upon also in one of the more recent posts concerning the way in which participants should be selected to participate in the Unmonastery project.97 Alberto has addressed the community to ask by whom and how the aspiring Unmonks should be selected.

3.

Also in the edgeryders platform there are some natural constraints. In fact, in order to be truly included in this project, participants need at least an average command of the English language for lively communicating in the platform or, alternatively, they need to have friends or acquaintants supporting them with translations. Additionally, participants need some computer skills and an internet access. In other words, e-inclusion is a sort of pre-requisite for being part of this think-thank. For many young people around todays
95

Report The incredibly true adventure of a group of foreigners in their own home ( I hate long titles :-) ! ), drafted by Medhin paolos, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/we-mixculture/mission_case/rete-g2-incredibly-true-adventure-group-foreigners-their-own-home-i-hate
96

With regard to the sharing among edgeryders, see the ethnographic paper drafted by Rebecca Collins and Valentina Cuzzocrea.
97

See at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/mine-becomes-ours/mission_case/choosing-projects-andpeople-another-unmonastery-design-problem

25

world, both these requirements are more accessible than in the past, but they cannot be taken for granted. It is not surprising, therefore, to discover that most edgeryders are, in average, well educated,98 are used to travel, and seem to have a high degree of selfinitiative: they look for opportunities and try to grasp them, they are not passively waiting for gifts from heaven and are ready to stand for making the change.

5. Are edgeryders socially included? Do they strive for more social inclusion? Social inclusion for whom?
This part of the paper will try to shed some light on the concept of social inclusion as it emerges by edgeryders reports. It will also seek to explore whether edgeryders consider themselves socially included, whether they ache for more inclusion in some fields of their life and which strategies they implement in order to eventually achieve this goal. As described in the previous paragraph, Edgeryders can be considered e-included. Does it mean that they consider themselves socially included outside the web? The edgeryders platform acknowledges edgeryders talents, expertise and innovative potentials, while valuing their lateral thinking in facing life challenges. On the contrary, from many reports it emerges that society structural barriers existing out there prevent many edgeryders from accessing the labour market and from making a living. The concept of NEET (Not in Education, Employment or Training), mentioned in the position paper drafted by Magnus Eriksson, clearly describes a generation which is easily excluded from society. In general, edgeryders seem to be skeptical about bureaucratic institutions, rigid labour structures which do not accommodate alternative curricula, which do not easily give second chance to drop-outs young people and do not seem to see beyond the limited horizons of market economy. In some cases, the distrust in national and European inclusion policy, leads young people to create their own opportunities outside the logic of the market: in these cases, the edgeryders exercise shows that the personal network offers support and cooperation to individuals left alone by governments, in order to gather information on alternative paths, and implement their alternative job projects. In these cases, it can be stated that edgeryders are socially included in a transnational think thank, which generates cultural and social capital and supports their development in spite of their potential (or actual), smaller or bigger exclusion from the ordinary labour market, good and services. Being part of a community of beautiful minds who dont give up on their own dreams, the edgeryders inspire each others, foster each others inclusion and access to opportunities in almost all areas of life: this is the case, for example, of co-housing, co-

98

See also the position paper drafted by Dunja Potocnik, p. 5.

26

working, the coach-surfing, which implies living cheaper, making life more affordable and accessible, as well as making it more cooperative. In the remaining part of the paper, I will look at the data collected in the reports and missions analysed for the purpose of this paper, through the three dimensions adopted by Nancy Fraser in her concept of social inclusion and described in par. 2 of this paper: recognition, distribution and political participation. In so doing, I will seek to explore whether these operational dimensions of social inclusion do have a meaning for edgeryders, as well as to understand which kind of model of social inclusion the edgeryders call for. The dimension of recognition. In this first section, the data collected in the edgeryders reports, which I analyzed for the aim of this paper, have been read through the lens of recognition. According to these data, can we conclude that edgeryders are recognized as full partners in social interactions both inside and outside the web? According to them, what is needed in order to allow that all young people can be considered and act as full partners in social interactions? Edgeryders seek to de-institutionalize the patterns of (social, religious, gender etc.) values that prevent some young people from being socially included in various sectors of society. Edgeryders reports express a preference for the recognition and enhancement of young peoples social status independently from their belonging to specific social groups, rather than for the identity model of recognition which is often integrated in todays social inclusion policies. This last model is based on such categories of identity as ethnic origin/race, gender, etc. which are deemed to make young people more vulnerable (see par. 2 of this paper) and it seems to prevail in the target oriented policies fostering youth social inclusion. On the contrary, in edgeryders perspective, the need to foster young peoples social inclusion in the society prescinds from their belonging to a group specific identity. Although some categories of identity (e.g. gender, sexual orientation, nationality) are further deepened and discussed in some reports, the conclusions of edgeryders do not seem to support positive measures based on some particular categories of identity (e.g. special measures for Roma young peoples inclusion). Rather, they are more interested in the recognition of young individual members as full partners in social interactions. What they ask is that young individuals start being considered as a resource, rather than as a social problem which has the consequence to depreciate young people,99 their potential and their innovative initiatives. At the same time, they ask that their reinterpretation of traditional institution (e.g. nuclear family)100 receive support in policy.
99

Goldson, B. & Muncie, J. (Eds), 2009. Youth Crime and Juvenile Justice, 1: The 'Youth Problem'.London: Sage Publications.
100

Pocar, V., Ronfani, P., La famiglia e il diritto. Bari-Roma: Laterza.

27

All in all, edgeryders seek to disrupt both formal (e.g. juridified or codified) and informal (e.g. social practices) institutionalized patterns that exclude young people. Edgeryders seek to replace those values which impede young peoples true inclusion with ones that enable and foster it.
1.

Family models

One example is provided by the institution family, which has been particularly raised by some female edgeryders. The mission Meet my family101 elicits that. Differently from their parents generation, many edgeryders do not feel the need to settle a traditional family model. For instance, some of them question friends in their own concept of family and questions whether nuclear family is still desirable.102 With this geographical move, people create their own strong friendships in a way that create their own family/support unit/call it what you will- I know that certainly is something I have done (MissyK8) What MissyK8 rightly out-points is the inadequacy of policy to support alternative families in many countries and to give to them the same basic rights that nuclear family would have. She states: Current governments are very pro-family, getting married, very traditional way of thinking, and this fuels their policies, so people in alternative families are being ignored which isnt right. State and religion control on the normative definition of what family is ought to be are perceived as still very pervasive. As Liudmila points out, there is the need that church will slow down a bit, but she does not see that happening soon.103 However, some good experiences have been shared concerning same sex marriages in the Netherlands. Carlien Roodnik104 offers a diachronical view on religious and intergenerational trajectories. In her experience, traditions did not prevent her from

101

See at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/living-together/spotlight-meet-my-family

102

See the report A family of my own written by MissyK8, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/spotlight-meet-my-family/mission_case/family-my-own. See also Noemi Salantius comments on Liudmilas report Die in the city, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/spotlight-meet-my-family/mission_case/die-city#comment-2192
103

Liudmilas report Die in the city, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/spotlight-meet-myfamily/mission_case/die-city

104

Carlien Roodnik, Meet my family!: family life and freedom of religion, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/spotlight-meet-my-family/mission_case/family-life-and-freedomreligion

28

detaching from the traditional idea of family hold by her own parents. Whereas for her parents and relatives it was out of question to marry a person who was not Catholic, Carliens life had a turning point in which she married a same sex partner, after being divorced from her husband and her family was/is perfectly open to that option. Concerning the dismantlement of the nuclear family, the recognition of single parenthood and of the right to motherhood independently from the womans personal situation (being or not being in a relation) is topical. Commenting on the experience of being single mother shared by Lynne,105 Lucyanna106 considers as a basic human right that a woman should be free to decide if and when to have a child, regardless of her being or not in a relationship at that moment. Translating this into policy suggestions fostering social inclusion, edgeryders show the need to broaden the concept of family models and practices. Can institutions offer support for these new conceptualizations of family, can they embrace fluidity of young peoples experience rather than being blocked into tax systems and normative regulations? Compared to new forms of family suggested by some edgeryders, institutions do not seem prone to challenge the existing structures in many countries, with the result that they miss to recognize and support the experiences of many young peoples family models and lifestyles.
2.

Otherness and deconstruction of stereotype

The dimension of recognition also encompasses the issue of including otherness, of the accommodation of diversity and mixed cultures, as well as the existence of borders between private and public spheres. How do edgeryders experience diversity? Do they manage to express themselves freely? Do they feel taken into consideration by policies fostering social inclusion or do they feel put apart from them? Trying to answer to these questions, it is impressive the variety of initiatives undertaken by edgeryders in order to foster the recognition of the others. Some edgeryders reports show that the engagement of civil society seek to compensate the lack of political sensitiveness. Most of these reports describe experiences located in Italy, where initiatives that directly try to improve the living conditions of second generations or migrant women are taking place.

105

Lynne comment Beauty of humanity available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/spotlightmeet-my-family/mission_case/family-life-myth#comment-1480

106

Lucyannas comment Congratulations, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/spotlightmeet-my-family/mission_case/family-life-myth#comment-1491

29

The edgeryder Medhin Paolos,107 for example, joined the association called G2, founded by migrants and refugees children who, in spite of having been born and/or raised in Italy, are confronted with enormous difficulty when it comes to acquire the Italian nationality. The young people joining the G2 organization pursue the double scope of enhancing the access to the Italian nationality for second generation children and to work on peoples identity in order to make second generations feel like they're part of an us instead of a them.108 This bottom- up movement managed to catch the attention of Italian institutions, such as the Italian Ministry for Internal Affairs and Welfare as well as the Italian President. It recently received funding by the Department of Equal Opportunities (more precisely by the Italian Equality Body) due to its positive action, in order to coordinate - in collaboration with ASGI109 and Save the Children110 - an online front office providing with legal information on the acquisition of the Italian nationality. Several reports concern the experience of edgeryders in relation with their mixed, hybrid, multiple....whatever you call them, identities as Nadia puts it.111 The reports elicit that edgeryders don't feel like they are reinforcing structural categorisations. Which then become prisons you can't get out of, as Nadia points out.112 This is a distinguishing features of many edgeryders approach and can help to nurture many social inclusion policies, which run the risk to consider young people belonging to

107

The report of Medhin Paolos available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/we-mixculture/mission_case/rete-g2-incredibly-true-adventure-group-foreigners-their-own-home-i-hate

108

Ibid.

109

Asgi is an Italian organization of lawyers specialized in migration law. The webpage is available at: http://www.asgi.it/home_asgi.php?
110

Available at: http://www.savethechildren.it/IT/HomePage.

111

See Nadias comment Social Capital and mixed identity, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/we-mix-culture/mission_case/rete-g2-incredibly-true-adventuregroup-foreigners-their-own-home-i-hate#comment-2139. See also the report Share your Ryde: At the edges of conflict and mixed identity. My ryde, posted by TOOLosophy, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/share-your-ryde/mission_case/edges-conflict-and-mixed-identitymy-ryde , as well as the report We-mix culture: In Search Of Transnational Identities - or Stereotypophobes Around The World, posted by Decida and available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/we-mix-culture/mission_case/search-transnational-identities-orstereotypophobes-around-world-0.
112

Nadias comment Social Capital and mixed identity, Op. cit.

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different minorities (eg. migrants, Roma communities, etc.) as monolithic and static.113 For example, the project Don't Ask Me Where I'm From, Ask Me Where I'm Heading (Project Work for Designing Processes For Social Change Course,114 which is based on participatory communication and ethnographic action research accomplished at Malm Hgskola, has explored how young people randomly involved in it live or DO" such buzz-words as "Diversity", "Identity", "Stereotype" etc. This piece of research underlines a striking difference between, on the one hand, the idea of asking people where they are from as a category of identity and, on the other hand, where they are heading. The project explores how people feel about being asked where they are from, and all about self- identification. Our project is about is about focusing on the future and creating the identities according to the future. It seems obvious that identities are created in the past, but why not adding a bit more of future to it.115 To bridge the past and the future when dealing with young peoples identity suggests that these very young people gain power on their own lives and life projects. They are empowered to describe and re-scribe their stories instead of being described just on the basis of their biography. They perform their own identities and they can decide to change their own trajectories and identities whenever they want. The recognition of this fluidity is missing in policies fostering social inclusion, which are often based on predetermined and fixed categories (see par. 2 above). This need has much to do also with the motion in which many young people leave in todays world. MarukomuC says: I dont consciously accept any relationship between who I am and where I am from.116

113

See also my article Bello, B.G., 2011. Empowerment of young migrants in Italy through non formal education: putting equality into practice, Journal of Modern Italian Studies, 16:3, 348-359, in which I contest the notion itself of second generation youth as a stigmatizing and static catchall word.
114

See ks Report Don't Ask Me Where I'm From, Ask Me Where I'm Heading (Project Work for Designing Processes For Social Change Course), available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/we-mix-culture/mission_case/dont-ask-me-where-im-ask-me-whereim-heading-project-work-designing-proc The project is also retrievable from: http://askmewhereimheading.wordpress.com/2011/10/04/interviewsmultiple-identity-stories/
115

See at: http://askmewhereimheading.wordpress.com/category/how-is-it-going/

116

See the report The rules of the space: Social group chameleon, written by MarukomuC, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/rules-space/mission_case/social-group-chameleon.

31

The navigation across different groups of people also contribute to the need to grasp the essence of this life of itinerant chameleon.117 I have several very different groups of friends in the same place (and former places), with a group behavior style to fit in which each of them. How to integrate this innovative view into social policies and curricula is not an easy question and I have not myself any easy answer for that. But it suggests to policymakers that young people do not want to be taken hostage of fixed categories, above all when those categories are decided by other than young people: panta rei. The reification of the other and the construction of the enemy have been explored also in a historical perspective (history of racism)118 and in the perspective of the language used by the media (mass-media racism).119 In this framework, an interesting report on how people belonging to different groups can overcome barriers built by prejudice is posted by Gyula Vamosi. 120 In his concrete case, the minority group is Roma and the majority group is non-Roma. He describes success stories on how members of the different communities get engaged with members of the others: the Roma are considered others by non Roma and vice versa, showing the relativity of the concept. He states: If we want to be accepted by the 'others', then we're gonna have to make the first steps in opening doors to our cultural values so the outsiders can better understand our reactions, our behavior and the cultural, social and political phenomena related to Roma/Gypsy people. 121 Gyula underlines that very few Roma people believe that their own individual actions can make the change around them, because they are indeed discouraged by a long history

117

Ibid.

118

Discovering and de-constructing prejudice with teenager, posted by Estremme. Available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/we-mix-culture/mission_case/descovering-and-de-constructingprejudice-teenagers. See also the report Showing our oppressions is the first step to overcome them: an experiment of "Forum Theatre" with immigrant and Italian women in Trentino (Italy) posted by davideeec, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/we-mixculture/mission_case/showing-our-oppressions-first-step-overcome-them-experiment-forumtheatrE
119

Ibid. Are gaze (non gypsy people) friends or enemies?, posted by

120

Gyula Vamosi. Available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/we-mix-culture/mission_case/arega%C5%BAe-non-gypsy-ppl-friends-or-enemies.

121

Ibid.

32

of discrimination, hatred and bias, while they should proactively adopt the 'GO FOR' and not the 'GO AGAINST' strategy,122 as he suggests.

3.

Recognition of young peoples creativity and of non- ordinary curricula

During the Edgeryders Conference in June, some participants raised the problem of young drop outs or of young people with lower education levels, who are likely to face more difficulties than well-educated ones in finding a paid job and making a living on it. Even though just a minority of the edgeryders are low educated, ,123 the issue deserves attention because they give evidence that social inclusion policies do not manage to reach all youngsters and they often leave out most vulnerable ones. Moreover, the fact of being well educated does not necessarily help many edgeryders to fulfill their aspirations or to dismantle existing structures. From the discussion emerged also the low (or the lack of) accommodation for young people with non-regular curricula by employers and institutions. Non regular paths do not necessarily imply either low education levels, or poor skills. They rather concern, for instance, people who either follow their own polyhedric vocations, combining diversified and not always consistent educational and career paths, or who have considerable gaps in their c.v. because of personal choices or life chances (family leaves, health problems, long unemployment periods). Having a very diversified career path (doing one thing and then a completely different one) makes it difficult to classify the person in a recognisable manner by potential employers, and with that comes the risk of marginalisation."124 In spite of the recognition of the expertise that young people receive from their peers on such platforms as the edgeryders one and in their networks, it seems challenging for some of them to have a second chance and to fit the employers requirements in terms of knowledge and skills. As Noemi Salantiu states, [I]n response to this and Edgeryders generally very or too creative strategies for some I wrote a report here, basically going for less risky approaches, reinventing the wheel.. it lacks a policy approach though.125

122

Ibid This is also confirmed in the ethnographic paper Learning on the Edge.

123

Edgeryders learning and educational experiences, written by Prudencia Gutirrez-Esteban and Piotr Mikiewicz.
124

See the comment by Noemi Salantiu, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/whereedgeryders-dare/mission_case/report-conference-session-building-transition-handbook-researcha#comment-3445

33

It is surprising, though, that the role of non-formal education in re-balancing these career profiles has been not often touched upon. One reason for that might be that, as Noemi Salentiu suggests in her comments to my paper, edgeryders have incorporated it [my note: non formal education] in their acquisition of skills, but it rarely goes under the label non-formal. Another reason might be, as Bridget suggests, that non-formal and informal education do not fully reflect a learning experience fostering creativity and divergent thinking However, it can not be denied that this form of education has played a significant role in the Sixties in the US as a solution for the problem posed by the world educational crisis126 and by unsuitable curricula: it emerged that formal educational path did not automatically lead to employment and occupation and that, above all, it was not able to provide educated people with the skills required by economic growth. At the same time, there was both political and economic resistance to financially support the expansion of formal education. One of best known notion of non-formal education defines it as any organized educational activity outside the established formal system - whether operating separately or as an important feature of some broader activity - that is intended to serve identifiable learning clienteles and learning objectives.127 On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, the non formal education has become an European priority in the youth field and a means to integrate young people into society. Many efforts have been stepped up in the EU and CoE policies128 for the validation and recognition of skills and competencies acquired through non-formal learning by young people. The dimension of distribution of material resources. The second dimension of social inclusion used by Nancy Fraser is distribution, which should guarantee peoples access to economic power, to paid work, resources, wealth, etc. As described above, Frasers notion of distribution encompasses two different concepts: a) affirmative redistribution, which implies the adoption of affirmative measure (positive actions) in order to balance inequalities. According to this author, this kind of distribution is inadequate to tackle the structures generating mal-distribution and tends to
125

See the report How do we make the most out of portofolio careers? Strategically and less ryding edges posted by Noemi Salantiu and available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/whereedgeryders-dare/mission_case/how-do-we-make-most-out-portofolio-careers-strategically-andless.
126

Coombs, P. (1968) The World Educational Crisis, New York, Oxford University Press. See also UNESCO (1972) Learning to Be (prepared by Faure, E. et al), Paris: UNESCO, p. 182.
127

Coombs, P. & Ahmed, M., 1974. Attacking Rural Poverty, Baltimore: The John Hopkins University Press.
128

See the entry Non formal learning/education at: http://youth-partnership-eu.coe.int/youthpartnership/ekcyp/BGKNGE/Non-formal_learning.html

34

crystallize the condition of social groups perceived as vulnerable beneficiaries of welfare; b) transformative redistribution, which manages to change the structures that generate mal-distribution and to de-differentiate classes of people. The reports posted by the edgeryders mostly seem to aspire to have this transformative power and to achieve this second kind of distribution. With regard to this point, it is impressive the quantity and quality of ideas that edgeryders support in order to cope with mal-distribution of material resources. The way in which they try to re-distribute resources mainly consists of sharing129 and it is based on the collaborative co -trend.130 In general, the edgeryders seem to be aware of the values promoted by the market economy, but they seek to promote alternative systems based on cooperation, sharing, sustainability and democratic participation, rather than on competitiveness, on scarcity and on the logic of profit. With regard to the job market, for example, the data collected elicit that young people living on the edge are worried about the quality and the quantity of opportunities available for them in todays labour system. Many edgeryders dislike the perspective of being employed in routine and low paid jobs, which compel them to alienating activities for the whole day, depriving them from their creativity and free time. It does not mean that they do not acknowledge the important role played by a good job in the transition to adulthood, in terms of economic independence, status, self-esteem. They rather aspire to have a guidance, to find partners and opportunities to develop their own business ideas and projects. All in all, they resist the idea to be instrumentalized by the job market and to feel enslaved by employers who do not appreciate their innovative potential. The issue of reconciliation between work and family has also been very debated by some female edgeryders. In particular Lucyanna states: [] todays jobs are designed not to let us enjoy enough free time. We do have some free time, dont get me wrong. But we dont have the time needed to build a family, the time needed to feel, create and support such a complex social and emotional structurea family. Do you really, but really think, that if you work 8 hours/day, need to run a household by yourself and deal with other thousands of daily life tasks, you can still be the perfect partner and/or parent? The truth is that you cant.131

129

Neal Gorenflo, Interview with a Sharer, http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/share-yourryde/mission_case/interview-sharer

130

See the Campaign Mine becomes ours, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/livingtogether/mine-becomes-ours.

131

See Lucyannas report Family Life - A myth at : http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/spotlight-meetmy-family/mission_case/family-life-myth

35

This edgeryder drafts a check-list which could be integrated into sustainable employment policies for youth. This list includes:
1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

More opportunities to work from home. A more flexible work schedule. Remuneration based on quality, not quantity. Less working hours/day. Pay the person, not the position: if a person is good at what he/she does, negotiate salary, maybe a bit smaller than average, that would give her instead the right to have some control over her life schedule. More support for young families132

6.

Edgeryders are aware that the conditions of joblessness and precarious job decrease their chance to be included in other social contexts, such as the access to better housing conditions and to leisure activities. At the same time, since finding a good and satisfying job for their level of education is getting harder, they feel under the pressure of either moving to other countries, or being flexible and/ or creating alternative paths for making a living. On the one hand, many edgeryders are high educated and have spent considerable time in education and training, which has the effect to make them dependent for longer time on their families and/or public institutions. On the other hand, in spite of their knowledge and skills, the transition between education and the labor market, has become harder and precarious forms of employment have become more widespread. These alternative paths include sharing the work environments in order to decrease office expenditures and to receive in kind remuneration instead of money. Such projects as The Loft133 have also the advantage to attract open-minded people of different age who can coach each other without any hierarchic obligations.134 As the edgeryder and architect Andrea Paoletti rightly points out, however, it wouldnt be appropriate to define these experience co-working because the main aim is to share working spaces, rather than to collaborate. He says:

132

Ibid.

133

See the report The Cocoworkers trendsetters - An illustrated chronicle of rising activities in The Loft Coworking Brussels, drafted by Jacky Degueldre, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/mine-becomes-ours/mission_case/cocoworkers-trendsettersillustrated-chronicle-rising-activities-loft
134

Ibid.

36

That's the reason because as an architect I design the office and in the while I facilitate the process in order to get the people involved and create a sense of identity and community.135 In other words, these initiatives can be considered as a valuable attempt to create serendipitous and informal learning136 opportunities in many cases in which the youth policies fostering young peoples social inclusion fail to truly offer job opportunities for young people. Learning from the free software which have created an inspiring culture of sharing and co-production,137co-working tries to accommodate young peoples need for freedom and innovation in accomplishing their own work, without isolating themselves or investing too much money in monthly office expenses (rent, electricity, etc.). In the field of housing, the co-experiences, are also preventing new generations in Europe from tipping into homelessness. The problems concerning owning a decent housing are described in many reports in many different ways. For instance, some edgeryders out-point the problem of high prices in such European capitals as Paris and London, which make young people move from place to place in order to manage to pay rent costs. MissyK underlines how stressful she finds not having a permanent residence and not to have the comfort of a home that is your own that you will not have a home to return to. 138 Many reports describe different kinds of experiences of co-housing.139 Some of them integrate the idea to collaborate also with city related institutions, to redevelop certain neighborhoods, while creating economic activities ( in the form of cooperatives)140 to

135

See the report Co-Living and Co-Working together in Basilicata / Italy, posted by Andrea Paoletti, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/mine-becomes-ours/mission_case/co-livingand-co-working-together-basilicata-italy
136

137

See the paper Political Participation Among Youth in the Edgeryders Project, prepared by Magnus Eriksson.
138

Missyk8, report A family of my own, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/spotlightmeet-my-family/mission_case/family-my-own

139

See James Beechers report Options for spaces to cover in Stroud, at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/mine-becomes-ours/mission_case/options-spaces-cover-stroud; dantes report Permanent Collective in Leipzig, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/whoryder-what-edge/mission_case/permanent-collective-leipzig; simone muffolinis report public good, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/mine-becomes-ours/mission_case/public-good
140

Ibid.

37

develop partnerships under certain EU schemes,141 as well as to develop solutions together with the local communities in which these co-housing projects will take place.142 These ideas are challenged by national legal frameworks and processes to purchase buildings in which more people can leave on a non-permanent basis, with a house cooperative being the owner, and individuals owning shares related to their own usership.143 Dante states that the idea is [t]o create a synergy: have people without money living in the empty places bought by people willing to put a few thousand euro.144 But the problem is not only to cope with the practical legal issues for financing such projects, it deals also with the other issue of what keep these alternatives forms of living together.145 From some reports, it also emerge a different gender perspective on the relation between owning a house and having the proper conditions to have a family. While this issue is raised by some female edgeryders, for whom home just represents a strong sense of belonging,146 some male edgeryders questions the need to own in order to have a family. MarukomuC says: I think that falily life can be based on insecure and treacherous foundationsm provided that family members can cretae a certain resileince to that very uncertainty. In the same vein, Alberto Cottica maintains that:

141

The report drafted by dante and mentioned in the previous footnotes, particularly refers to the following webpages: http://www.revesnetwork.eu/ and http://rights-poverty.eu/. It also mentions the possibility to develop projects funded by the European Voluntary Service for people under 30.
142

See the report posted by alberto cottica The Unmonastery - some design issues, available at:

http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/mine-becomes-ours/mission_case/unmonastery-some-designissues.
143

See dantes report Permanent Collective in Leipzig, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/who-ryder-what-edge/mission_case/permanent-collective-leipzig

144

Ibid.

145

Missik8s comment I think I just used an, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/spotlightmeet-my-family/mission_case/family-my-own#comment-1495

146

Missik8s comment Oh I don't speak from any, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/spotlight-meet-my-family/mission_case/family-my-own#comment1470

38

The perceived stability of a familial arrangement has little to do with home ownership The co-mantra concerns many other aspects of the edgeryders life, such as, for example, the access to accommodation opportunities during travels, provided by the couchsurfing community.147 The possibility to get a free accommodation (couch) for the night instead of going to either hotel, or B&Bs or youth hostels, has the advantage to enhance young peoples access to leisure, travels and vacations. However, these are not the only positive aspects of such experiences, which gather young people also with the opportunity to meet new people, to sightsee new places with new acquaintances and friends. Most of the reports analyzed for drafting this position paper elicit another area in which distribution makes the difference in many young peoples life, that is the creation and extension of social capital existing in each persons life. Bourdieu defines social capital as the sum of the resources, actual or virtual, that accrue to an individual or a group by virtue of possessing a durable network of more or less institutionalized relationships of mutual acquaintance and recognition.148 The Bourdieu approach is based on the idea that who you know matters more than what one person knows. It also reminds us that social capital can be either exclusionary or inclusionary. The data collected in many edgeryders report show that the personal (online and offline)149 networks often provide young people with resources and know-how which local, national and European institutions do not manage to supply.150 In the edgeryderssimbology this is represented by the house of the fox, 151 which describes the resourceful networker. He knows someone that knows someone that has what you need. The network helps to express solidarity with people living in hard conditions because

147

The webpage of the couchsurfing is available at: http://www.couchsurfing.org/; the report A tale about basic human decency posted by jorge.couchet is available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/mine-becomes-ours/mission_case/tale-about-basic-humandecency.
148

Bourdieu, Pierre, and Wacquant, Loic J. D. (1992), An Invitation to Reflexive Sociology,Chicago: University of Chicago Press, p. 119.
149

See the report Combining online and real life networking , posted by k, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/help-build-edgeryders-p2p-schoolresilience/mission_case/combining-online-and-real-life-networking
150

See also the report drafted by Ben and Gaia, available at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1sk5MbnNv-VMfcuH6fkBXLp4CSauyMr8w30qCJrjGFM/edit?pli=1
151

The simbology is fully described at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/page/about-game

39

of the economic recession (like Italy, Greece, Spain and Ireland),152 of natural calamities (like the earthquake in Emilia Romagna Region in Italy) as well as to establish communities without borders working together for a common goal. A relevant example in which the edgeryders have explored how networks can be activated has taken place in the area of health. The access to health system on a non-discriminatory basis is at the core of many EU social inclusion policies, but still many young (and less young) people are at risk of exclusion from prevention and care provision in many geographical areas. The topic was highly discussed both on the edgeryders platform and at the Edgeryders conference held in June 2012 in Strasbourg, which mainly focused on the reduction of health resources, and options to provide assistance in that situation. Edgeryder LucasG153 suggests that, in the field of health, networks could be generated or activated in order to look at:

Supplies (energy, consumables): prioritise transport, synthesise some medication locally, repurpose existing physical resources, etc. Procedures: networks look at prioritary aims and adapt procedures: solve things at primary care level if hospital or ambulances fail, boil germs if theres no electricity, etc.154

The attempt is to look at sustainable alternatives in the case in which existing health provision-systems break because of financial meltdown. In these cases networks can fill in the gaps of the national healthcare systems. For example, focused networks of citizens and health professionals can provide with first mutual aid, whereas networks of professionals can look into specialized vital supplies.155 At this purpose, Alberto Cottica156 suggest to try to design peer to peer diagnosis and treatment through networks that minimize the reliance on large communication infrastructure, without excluding the possibility of some non local communication.

152

See James Beechers report Solidarity with people living in Greece (Spain, Italy, Ireland,... , ...) : social networks against austerity (austeria?) across political 'borders', available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/node/1033/
153

http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/users/lucasg

154

Report Resilience session: Health system resilience - a proposal for the Resilience Session, posted by LucasG, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/help-build-edgeryders-p2p-schoolresilience/mission_case/health-system-resilience-proposal-resilienc
155

See the three- page document drafted by LucasG and available at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Dx5NZe-qaM1iRGz1nOceGch4T1NOeB4Zb8ITAd8ZPE/edit
156

40

The sub-focus areas, as LucasG call them, for developing creative and feasible ideas about the functioning of the network are:

Peer-to-peer diagnosis and treatment. (Even diagnosis of epidemics?) Low-cost pharmaceutical products: medicines, prosthetics, etc. (Include water filters, compost toilets, hand washing in case theres a general break-down and not just health-care is affected?) Prevention through life-style changes: can we help each other live healthier lives and enjoy the process? Cooperative help when theres need for transport. 157

A striking aspect emerged from the data is the little space dedicated to the access to and to the use of the EU funding opportunities for youth initiatives (see par. 2 of this paper). Among the exceptions is Dante,158 who explores the possibilities in which the European Voluntary Service159 can support his personal plans and future activities. The on-line sharing of know-how taking place on such platforms as the edgeryders one represents a paramount opportunity to meet potential partners for developing future youth projects. Political participation Concerning the last dimension (political participation) of social inclusion adopted in this paper, I recall and subscribe most of Magnus Erikksons specific analysis on political participation.160 In my paper I just add that even if some edgeryders are involved in formal party politics, most of them are engaged in what is called a non formal political participation. This happens in different ways: through peer-to-peer networking and advocacy, through digital technologies (in this sense the edgeryders platform itself is a non traditional political exercise); through occupation and demonstrations;161through bottom- up and collaborative suggestions to policy-makers in order to overcome the financial crisis.

157

Report Resilience session: Health system resilience - a proposal for the Resilience Session, op. cit.
158

The profile of Dante is avalaible at: http://edgeriders.ppa.coe.int/users/dante

159

The European Voluntary Service is one of the Action of the Youth in Action Programme, see at: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/youth/programme/action2_en.php
160

Eriksson, M. 2012. Political Participation Among Youth in the Edgeryders Project

161

See Alessia Zabatinos report The legitimate illegality. Culture as a commons. A journey through the Italian spaces occupied by knowledge workers, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/protecting-and-enhancing-commons/mission_case/legitimateillegality-culture-commons-journey-throug-0

41

In general, edgeryders reject traditional political participation and suggest alternative forms of engagement on a daily basis in initiatives that aim to better the lives of them and their peers. The will to participate in whatever decision making process impacting young peoples life is pervasive in edgeryders experience and spans from the caring for commons and global wealth to the management of community-based initiatives like the couchsurfing project. With regard to this last example, iorge.couchet underlines: One day, without our consultation, in an arbitrary way, we were "sold" .. our community from being organized as a non-profit structure built with our sharing and money donations, became a for-profit organization, a B Corp I agree, but anyway a for-profit organization and nobody asked us if we want that.162 He concludes: [I] want fair play .. I want a politic and economic context that is also framed by "mine become ours" .. not by "yours become mine" as that sadly permeates the economic forces dominating our current context .. 163 The last (in chronological order) participatory exercise started at the Unconference in June 2012 and developed on the edgeryders platform is the (un)Monastery.164 By participating in this youth-led initiatives young people learn not just how the world works today and how the political process is structured today, but also how it could be structured and they learn to critique the current models for political participation.

III. Conclusions: What would social inclusion/social cohesion policies look like if they were based on Edgeryders data?
Reading the whole of reports posted by the edgeryders through the three lenses (recognition, distribution, participation) adopted in this paper suggests a number of recommendations to policy makers for future policies fostering young peoples social inclusion. All of them are focused around the lack of (or the minor) space for young peoples innovative and creative entrepreneurship and peer to peer initiative. Many allegations against whatever top-down processes are posted and, as an alternative,

162

See the report A tale about basic human decency, posted by , iorge.couchet, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/mine-becomes-ours/mission_case/tale-about-basic-human-decency
163

Ibid.

164

See the original proposal described in Edwins report A few of us. living together (somewhere) and changing things?: The (un)Monastery, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/mine-becomes-ours/mission_case/few-us-living-togethersomewhere-and-changing-things-unmonastery

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many edgeryders call for a truly participative and bottom up system in many fields. Edgeryders care for commons165 and believe in sharing (ideas, goods, services, projects) as a response to scarcity of resources and to mal-distribution. The online and offline networks, which are the embodiments of many edgeryders social capital, become resources in young people s daily challenges which take places in different social arenas. In particular the online network seems to be accessible even for most disadvantaged young people (homeless), who can access the web through public computers in libraries, friends laptops, etc.166 Both offline and online networks often replace or support traditional groups (e.g. family) or welfare interventions, creating solidarity and multiplying resources as well as knowledge. The main idea of the edgeryders governance is the departure from the bureaucratic machinery and the implementation of co- models (co-working, co-housing, sharing of decisions, etc.). More in details, the following suggestions for policy-makers can be drafted. Recognition The first area in which the European institutions should step up efforts is the genuine recognition of young people as peers in the society. Outside the edgeryders platform, the last occasion (in chronological order) in which young people across Europe called for the recognition of their role in the decision making process took place during the EU Youth Conference of the Danish presidency form 18-21 March 2012 in Sor. During this event, young people wanted their voices been heard by the Commissioner for Education and Youth, Androulla Vassiliou, with regard to the maintenance of an independent EU youth program also after 2014.167 In response to the Commissioner, young people listed ten reasons why they are against the proposal of the European Commission to merge the seven existing EU programmes for education, training, youth and sport into one new Programme to be called Erasmus for All.168 The recognition of young peoples agency, talents and potential beyond the logic of ordinary curricula and market economy is another factor on which edgeryders put a great emphasis and which should be integrated into European policies fostering their social inclusion. It cannot be denied that there has been an ongoing debate in order to enhance the recognition of non-formal learning activities within the European

165

Mattei, U., 2012. Beni comuni. Un manifesto. Bari-Roma: Edizioni Laterza, pp. 136.

166

See, for example, http://www.cottica.net/2012/08/29/i-computers-degli-esclusi-quando-ildigital-divide-gioca-a-favore-delleguaglianza/

167

The webpage of the Conference is available at: http://eu2012.dk/en/Meetings/Conferences/Mar/Ungdomskonference [Accessed on 30 June 2012].
168

The details on the youth struggle about the Youth programme is available at: http://www.youthpolicy.org/blog/2012/03/europes-struggle/ [Accessed on 30 June 2012].

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institutions,169 but the path which leads from the recognition of this form of learning to the job market is still arduous. Differently from existing European policy fostering youth social inclusion, many edgeryders reports do not suggest to policy makers to focus on most marginalized young people along the lines of ethnic origin/racial origin, migration background, disability, etc.. In the edgeryders platform, this lack of emphasis on the grounds which are most commonly considered to put young people at risk of disadvantage could confirm the so called policy paradox, described by Dagmar Kutsar and Helena Helve.170 Both in the EU and its Member States (and indeed some transnational NGOs), there can be a policy rhetoric of inclusion, but a policy framework that in fact maintains exclusion. Ironically, in reference back to the point above, if policy initiatives are not carefully targeted at those most in need of support and opportunity, they can easily be taken up by young people who are already relatively included. In that way, youth policy can inadvertently exacerbate the youth divide. In other words, being edgeryders among those who are already relatively included and who are not experiencing discriminations on the basis of disability, ethnicity, sexual orientation, etc., they do not consider these and other grounds as the necesary basis for identity-based policies for social inclusion. At the same time, edgeryders call for policies which are able to reach all young people but avoid targeting them (e.g. most vulnerable young people , most excluded young people, Roma young people, etc. ). Identity-based policies might indeed have the unintended effect to perpetrate and to crystalize such labels as vulnerable young people, which are intended to help them. Distribution Looking at the Edgeryders platform, it seems that solidarity among participants lead to a generous sharing of know-how, goods and services. This implies also a certain degree of trust, since many initiatives have been launched on the platform and developed further with the help of other participants. Opportunities are transmitted through the ecommunity and reach also offline networks (edgeryders friends, partners, families, acquaintances, colleagues, neighbours, etc.), creating alternative resources to the available ones. This highlights that edgeryders are empowered to create safety-nets
169

See the whole Coyote Magazine of June 2012, dedicated to recognition of non formal learning,available at: http://youth-partnership-eu.coe.int/youthpartnership/documents/Publications/Coyote/Coyote18/coyote_18.pdf [Accessed on 30 June 2012].
170

Kutsar, D., Helve, H. et al., 2012. Social Inclusion of Socially Excluded Youth: More Opportunities, Better Access, and Higher Solidarity. Policy review of the Youth Research Cluster on Social Inclusion, p.50. Available at: http://youth-partnership-eu.coe.int/youthpartnership/news/news_330.html

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through their cooperation. This shows a clear awareness that many young people cannot rely on governments support and have to activate their own creativity in order to access goods and services. At the same time, edgeryders suggest to policy makers that young people acknowledge the importance of coaching, mentoring, inspiring role models, which are provided by both seniors and their peers, outside the hierarchical orders of job relations. The platform also suggests to policy makers that young people want to join the implementation of services and want to work together for a just and fair access to scant resources. To be sure, edgeryders offer their expertise in order to suggest alternative and sustainable ways of managing resources. Last but not the least, policies fostering social inclusion of young people should provide with extended support during the transition from education to the labor market, above all in the cases of longterm unemployment and non linear curricula. In fact, whereas young people seek for practical solutions in order to overcome their precarious work conditions and to complete their transition to an independent life (co-housing, co-working, etc.), the labor market often exclude them because of the gaps existing in their labor path. Participation As Magnus Eriksson concludes in the paper on political participation, edgeryders are active in creating their own initiatives and spaces that work with different kinds of procedures and practices than institutional politics.171 To his conclusions and suggestions, I add here that young people should be involved in designing, implementing and evaluating youth-related policies. In other words, they should be empowered to participate in the ex-ante evaluation and needs assessment, as well as in the ex-post evaluation. The Edgeryders platform is a great example of how decisions can be shared from the beginning (development of the platform) till the end (validation of the transition booklet), including several projects launched on the platform. The advantage of such exercises as the edgeryders platform is that they are fast, flexible and prone to experimentation: just the opposite of how the bureaucratic Leviatans usually work both at the national and supranational level. Edgeryders suggest to policy makers that decisions can turn into action without too much time consuming and that spare time can be used in many useful ways. Yet, the time spent in the bottom-up democratic process (see the Unmonastery exercise) is not considered wasted time at all: on the contrary, it is part of the citizens commitment and engagement in shaping a truly inclusive society. Moreover, the edgeryders sho also how the e-participation can be used as a catalyzer of resources, ideas and a starting point to transform them into action.

171

Eriksson, M. 2012. Op. cit.

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Quoted edgerydersreports and comments The rules of the space, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/living-together/rulesspace [ Accessed 25 August 2012] You, me and everyone we know, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/livingtogether/you-me-and-everyone-we-know [ Accessed 25 August 2012] We-mix culture, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/living-together/we-mix-culture [ Accessed 25 August 2012] Mine becomes ours, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/living-together/minebecomes-ours [ Accessed 25 August 2012] Spotlight: Meet my family!, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/livingtogether/spotlight-meet-my-family [Accessed 25 August 2012]

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Alberto Cottica, Unmonastery available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/minebecomes-ours/mission_case/unmonastery-some-design-issues [Accessed 25 August 2012] Alberto Cottica, Senior is not age-related, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/mine-becomes-ours/mission_case/cocoworkerstrendsetters-illustrated-chronicle-rising-activities-loft#comment-1664 Alessia Zabatino, report The legitimate illegality. Culture as a commons. A journey through the Italian spaces occupied by knowledge workers, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/protecting-and-enhancingcommons/mission_case/legitimate-illegality-culture-commons-journey-throug-0 Andrea Paoletti report Co-Living and Co-Working together in Basilicata / Italy available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/mine-becomes-ours/mission_case/co-living-and-coworking-together-basilicata-italy Carlien Roodnik, Meet my family!: family life and freedom of religion, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/spotlight-meet-my-family/mission_case/family-life-andfreedom-religion Dante, report Permanent Collective in Leipzig, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/who-ryder-what-edge/mission_case/permanent-collectiveleipzig davideeec, report Showing our oppressions is the first step to overcome them: an experiment of "Forum Theatre" with immigrant and Italian women in Trentino (Italy), available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/we-mix-culture/mission_case/showing-ouroppressions-first-step-overcome-them-experiment-forum-theatrE Decida, report We-mix culture: In Search Of Transnational Identities - or Stereotypophobes Around The World, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/wemix-culture/mission_case/search-transnational-identities-or-stereotypophobes-aroundworld-0. Estremme, report We-mix culture: Discovering and de-constructing prejudice with teenager. Available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/we-mixculture/mission_case/descovering-and-de-constructing-prejudice-teenagers Gyula Vamosi, report We-mix culture: Are gaze (non gypsy people) friends or enemies?. Available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/we-mix-culture/mission_case/arega%C5%BAe-non-gypsy-ppl-friends-or-enemies iorge.couchet, report Implementing a real social project as a case for the European Commission..., available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/living-togethersession/mission_case/implementing-real-social-project-case-european-commission [Accessed 25 August 2012]

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iorge.couchet, Post I- The true nature of power, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/mine-becomes-ours/mission_case/tale-about-basic-humandecency#comment-3090 [ Accessed 25 August 2012] Jacky Degueldre, report The Cocoworkers trendsetters - An illustrated chronicle of rising activities in The Loft Coworking Brussels, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/mine-becomes-ours/mission_case/cocoworkerstrendsetters-illustrated-chronicle-rising-activities-loft James Beecher, report Options for spaces to cover in Stroud, at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/mine-becomes-ours/mission_case/options-spaces-coverstroud James Beecher, report Solidarity with people living in Greece (Spain, Italy, Ireland,... , ...) : social networks against austerity (austeria?) across political 'borders', available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/node/1033/ K, report Don't Ask Me Where I'm From, Ask Me Where I'm Heading (Project Work for Designing Processes For Social Change Course), available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/we-mix-culture/mission_case/dont-ask-me-where-im-askme-where-im-heading-project-work-designing-proc K, report Combining online and real life networking, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/help-build-edgeryders-p2p-schoolresilience/mission_case/combining-online-and-real-life-networking Liudmila, report Die in the city, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/spotlightmeet-my-family/mission_case/die-city MissyK, A family of my own, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/spotlight-meetmy-family/mission_case/family-my-own Lynnes comment Beauty of humanity, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/spotlight-meet-my-family/mission_case/family-lifemyth#comment-1480 Lucyanna, report Family Life - A myth, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/spotlight-meet-my-family/mission_case/family-life-myth Lucyannas comment Congratulations, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/spotlight-meet-my-family/mission_case/family-lifemyth#comment-1491 LucasG, Report Health system resilience - a proposal for the Resilience Session, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/help-build-edgeryders-p2p-schoolresilience/mission_case/health-system-resilience-proposal-resilienc

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LucasG, Report on Resilience Session: Resilient Health through Networks, available at:http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/help-build-edgeryders-p2p-schoolresilience/mission_case/report-resiliencesession-resilient-health- [Accessed 25 August 2012] MarukomuC, report The rules of the space: Social group chameleon, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/rules-space/mission_case/social-group-chameleon Medhin Paolos, report The incredibly true adventure of a group of foreigners in their own home ( I hate long titles :-) ! ), available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/we-mixculture/mission_case/rete-g2-incredibly-true-adventure-group-foreigners-their-ownhome-i-hate [Accessed 25 August 2012] Missyk8, report A family of my own, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/spotlight-meet-my-family/mission_case/family-my-own Missik8s comment Oh I don't speak from any, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/spotlight-meet-my-family/mission_case/family-myown#comment-1470 Missik8s comment I think I just used an, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/spotlight-meet-my-family/mission_case/family-myown#comment-1495 Nadias comment Social Capital and mixed identity, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/we-mix-culture/mission_case/rete-g2-incredibly-trueadventure-group-foreigners-their-own-home-i-hate#comment-2139 Neal Gorenflo, report Interview with a Sharer, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/share-your-ryde/mission_case/interview-sharer Noemi Salantius comment What family model did you choose?, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/spotlight-meet-my-family/mission_case/die-city#comment2192 Noemi Salantius comment 2 things, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/whereedgeryders-dare/mission_case/report-conference-session-building-transition-handbookresearch-a#comment-3445 https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B81XQfRCH7JmLTkxRDNWZ2xtZEk/edit?pli=1, slide n. 11 of the power point presentation. [Accessed 25 August 2012] TOOLosophy, report Share your Ryde: At the edges of conflict and mixed identity. My ryde, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/share-your-ryde/mission_case/edgesconflict-and-mixed-identity-my-ryde Project Don't Ask Me Where I'm From, Ask Me Where I'm Heading (Project Work for Designing Processes For Social Change Course, available at:

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http://askmewhereimheading.wordpress.com/2011/10/04/interviewsmultiple-identitystories/ simone muffolinis report public good, available at: http://edgeryders.ppa.coe.int/minebecomes-ours/mission_case/public-good

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