Social cohesion has lost its feelgood vibe — what will it take?

“Social cohesion” has become a shape-shifting phrase, dropped into speeches, inquiries and legislation to mean different things to different audiences. Although it has been in the political lexicon for years, the terror attack that targeted Jewish people celebrating Hanukah in Bondi last December pushed the idea to the front of public debate.

What should evoke optimism, trust and belonging now often provokes cynicism, confusion and anger, with antisemitism serving as a bellwether of diminishing cohesion. Psychoanalyst Allan Shafer diagnoses a collective social depression: despair, anxiety and polarisation driven by global violence, political manipulation, trauma and the collapse of nuanced dialogue.

That climate produces hate and erodes recognition of shared humanity, and reversing it will require hard, unglamorous work — emotionally intelligent leaders, time, robust institutions, respectful dialogue and a willingness to correct past missteps that have entrenched inequality.

social cohesion, antisemitism, bondi, hanukah, terror attack, social depression, polarisation, political manipulation, trauma, shared humanity