Social exclusion and inequality in European cities. Abyssal exclusion, advanced marginality, and the goodness of the European indicator AROPE

The recent happenings (e.g., the COVID-19 pandemic, the consequent crises, the war in Ukraine, etc.) and the transformations occurring in the last decades (e.g., migrations, welfare restructuring, globalization, etc.) shaped and changed societal composition. These events intensified and exacerbated the existing forms of inequality and social exclusion, which acquired new shades of marginalization, polarization, and segregation in the urban contexts (e.g., Tammaru et al., 2016; Musterd et al., 2017; Dikeç, 2017; Florida, 2017; Mela, Toldo, 2019; Madden, 2021; Van Ham et al., 2021). Therefore, the present thesis reports a study aimed to investigate social exclusion and inequality in European cities. Specifically, five cities – one per welfare state regime – were the case studies of this research: Rome, Brussels, Stockholm, Bucharest, and London. The research attempted to answer three questions: Q1. How does the European Union define, calculate, and frame social exclusion and inequality? Q2. How are they manifesting in European cities? Are there extremer forms of exclusion and inequality, i.e., “abyssal exclusion” and “advanced marginality”? If so, who is experiencing them in European cities? Q3. Can European statistical tools capture the current and emerging forms of inequality and social exclusion? If not, what is missing? The theoretical framework that guided this research is rooted in postcolonial and urban studies. Specifically, it combines Boaventura de Sousa Santos’ notion of “abyssal exclusion” (2007, 2014, 2017; Ricotta et al., 2021) with the analysis of “advanced marginality” developed by Loïc Wacquant (1996, 2008, 2016). The combination of these two perspectives offers a more comprehensive and thorough analysis of the emerging shades of inequality and exclusion. Indeed, Santos’ theory allows the deepening of those forms of inequality and exclusion that are often unrecognized and unexplored by the mainstream sociology. On the other hand, Wacquant’s studies permit framing these dynamics within the neighbourhoods’ dynamics and considering the socio-spatial divisions that exist and persist in the cities. Methodologically, the research adopted a mixed-method approach to achieve and answer the three questions posed. Thus, to portray how the European Union defines, frames, and monitors inequalities and social exclusion, it reviewed the descriptions, reports, and strategies developed regarding these dynamics. In addition, it provided a panoramic of the statistical tools adopted to grasp and monitor them. Secondly, to portray the current and emerging shades of inequality and exclusion, I conducted one hundred and fifty-four semi-structured interviews in five European cities with associations that work with the most excluded groups and experts that study these dynamics. Lastly, to validate the goodness of the indicators, the research compared the statistical analyses conducted for the first question with the insights and considerations of the interviews for the second one. The results of this study spotlighted the complexity and fluidity of social exclusion and inequality. On the one hand, the research illustrated the dimensions and shades of these phenomena and the groups impacted by these dynamics in the European cities involved. On the other hand, it highlighted the fluidity of social exclusion and inequality and the difficulties in grasping and tracing their manifestations and impacts. Therefore, the research pinpointed three principal considerations. To begin with, it underlines the necessity to keep questioning the data that the European Union – and the Member States – use to monitor these social phenomena as they continuously evolve and impact new groups that need to be acknowledged and captured. Secondly, it spotlights the potentiality to adopt a mixed-method approach to question the indicators and study these dynamics. Lastly, the research highlights the necessity to develop a stronger and more cohesive network among associations, institutions, universities, and residents to enlarge the voices considered and promote more comprehensive solutions and policies to handle and tackle social exclusion and inequality.