TY  - JOUR
TI  - Unequal diversity - on the political economy of social cohesion in Vienna
AB  - The article reflects on the contradictory dynamics inherent in policies and political strategies to achieve social cohesion in cities, given the current European political-economic conjuncture of multiculturalism as well as increasing socioeconomic inequality. It takes the history of the city of Vienna with its rich story of social cohesion and of a melting pot of cultures as a historic case study, stressing path-dependency and the necessity of path-shaping. Furthermore, it describes two good practices of socially innovative current attempts to achieve social cohesion. The empirical insights, together with a broad overview of different disciplinary and policy discourses, help to problematize social cohesion as a key issue for European urban development. The article closes by proposing three lessons that can be learned from Vienna: to overcome culturalist reductionism, to be aware of scale-sensitive institution-building, and to reflect on the political and economic preconditions for building a European social citizenship.
SP  - 239
EP  - 253
PY  - 2011-08-01
JO  - European Urban and Regional Studies
AU  - Novy, Andreas 
ER -