This document was produced under the supervision of Juan Carlos Feres, Chief of the Social Statistics Unit, Statistics and Economic Projections Division, ECLAC, and was written by Pablo Villatoro, Consultant in the Division. Marcelo Miño and Elizabeth Rivera both contributed to this study, while Carlos Vergara and Ernesto Ottone made valuable comments and suggestions. The production of the document was funded by the EUROsociAL Programme of the European Commission. The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean wishes to thank those whose financial cooperation made the production and publication of this document possible PREFACEThis book was prepared by the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC);, with the support of the EUROsociAL Programme of the European Commission. Against a background of marked change linked with globalization and the technological revolution - and with its foundations being eroded by new forms of exclusion that need to be urgently addressed - social cohesion is becoming an increasingly important issue in Latin America and the Caribbean. Different phenomena - widening social, economic and cultural divides, pressures on the ability to govern States, the disappearance of traditional sources of belonging, and a waning interest in public affairs - are currently posing a threat to social cohesion in the region . If social cohesion policies are to be framed it is vital to reach agreement on the meaning of the term itself and the best ways of measuring it. ECLAC has devised a concept of social cohesion in which emphasis is laid on the relationship between social inclusion and exclusion mechanisms, on one hand, and people's perceptions of and reactions to the way in which those mechanisms work on the other. As a further contribution to that effort, this publication presents a system of indicators that covers all the dimensions and components needed to monitor social cohesion in the countries of the region. The proposed system is intended not only to provide operational tools for decision-makers to monitor the situation and trends in every area of social cohesion, but also to contribute to discussion of the subject, so that it will play a leading role in the policies pursued by the countries of the region.