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Concepts of Inclusion from a Biographical Perspective. Part I

Thursday, July 17, 2014: 8:30 AM-10:20 AM
Room: Booth 60
RC38 Biography and Society (host committee)

Language: English

Sociological theory has paid much attention to concepts of exclusion and exclusionary practice. In our session, we would like to discuss in which ways concepts of inclusion have come to address inequalities in society, and how the concepts relate to forms of exclusion. Inclusion is interesting for biographical researchers because it raises questions about individuality and differences; what is ‘normal’; and the ways practices of exclusion and inclusion are mutually dependent. Given the backdrop of – rising – social inequalities and concomitant exclusions, “inclusion” has come to be written into policies, as a critical corrective to previous policies of “integration,” thereby becoming a kind of ‘feel-good’ term for thinking about difference and diversity. In this session, we want to critically explore “inclusion” from a biographical perspective, focusing on how individual strategies of inclusion (for example, ‘passing’) actually work, the social constraints that prevent inclusion of some, while enabling it for others (for example, inclusion as privilege of the powerful or as symbolic capital), as well as the policies and practices which change society and restructure institutions in the direction of less inequality and more recognition and acceptance of difference.
Session Organizers:
Lena INOWLOCKI, University of Applied Sciences, Germany and Kathy DAVIS, VU University, Netherlands
Chair:
Lena INOWLOCKI, University of Applied Sciences, Germany
Inclusion and Exclusion Intertwined (Oral Presentation)
Rudolf LEIPRECHT, Carl-von-Ossietzky University, Germany

Intermarriages and Inclusion. Time and Space of Love, Laws and Norms (Oral Presentation)
Laura ODASSO, Université Libre de Bruxelles GERME, Belgium

Biographies and The Doubleness Of Inclusion and Exclusion (Oral Presentation)
Halleh GHORASHI, VU University Amsterdam, Netherlands; Melanie EIJBERTS, VU University Amsterdam, Netherlands

Dimensions of Exclusion in the Lived Experiences of Adult Survivors of Childhood Liver Transplant: A Micro-Analytic Perspective (Oral Presentation)
Karen LOWTON, King's College London, United Kingdom; Chris HILEY, King's College London, United Kingdom

Life Strategies of Families in Marginalised Urban Neighbourhoods: Dealing with Social and Educational Inequalities (Oral Presentation)
Christine RIEGEL, University of Education Freiburg, Germany; Lalitha CHAMAKALAYIL, University of Education Freiburg, Germany

Refugee Returns - Experiences of Inclusion Here and There (Oral Presentation)
Sirpa KORHONEN, University of Jyväskylä, Finland, Finland