CHAPTER 7
Propelling Social Inclusion
Koh har qadar beland baashad, sar-e khod raah daarad. (Even a very high mountain has a path to the top.) —AFGHAN PROVERB
Chapter 6 showed that change toward social inclusion is possible and that the state plays a preeminent role in propelling such change. Its role is both direct, in terms of putting in place policies, programs, and institutions, and indirect, in terms of creating conditions that enable inclusion. This chapter addresses some of the ways in which social inclusion has been promoted in diverse contexts. It looks at actions and interventions that have enhanced social inclusion across the three domains of the conceptual framework, namely, markets, services, and spaces (figure 7.1). These domains represent both barriers to and opportunities for inclusion. Underlying the discussion is an explicit caveat: the set of policies and programs presented is not a prescription. Rather, it is a tentative menu of options to choose from, depending on need, opportunities, culture, budget, politics, and institutional capacity. No single set of policies or programs can be classified as “social inclusion policies” or “social inclusion programs.” In fact, depending on the “wrong” that needs to be addressed, or the “right” that needs to be deepened, a range of interventions could be employed. This realization then leads to the question: How do policies that have social inclusion at their core differ from ordinary social policies? The question is a difficult one to answer. In essence, policies that place social inclusion at the core do not necessarily do more but do things differently. This chapter provides a 213