This commentary proposes some innovations in theorising, conceptualising, and operationalising social cohesion. Alongside horizontal and vertical relations and subjective and objective dimensions, formal and informal relations are introduced as distinctive dimensions, both theoretically and empirically. Formal relations refer to legal rights and institutionalised civil society, while informal relations concern non-legal and non-institutionalised aspects. The paper advances theorisation by incorporating physical space, allowing for a more in-depth examination of the relationship between the different dimensions of social cohesion. Therefore, its theorisation and conceptualisation should consider the relationship between the verticality of the object of social cohesion and physical space, which allows for coherence in operationalising the concept. The understanding that within the object of analysis there are groups constituted by relations between individuals within each group, and that relations between groups are relations between those relations, adds a layer of relations with different properties. Thus, there is a need to understand which relations are of most importance to assess social cohesion in the object of analysis. This paper introduces the concept of relevant groups, which have greater social distance and the horizontal relations of which are pivotal for the study of social cohesion. Three configurations – physically exclusive, transversal, and clustered relevant groups – are proposed.

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Social cohesion,Relevant groups,Object of analysis,Physical space,Formal relations,Informal relations

• Sociologia - Ciências Sociais
• História e Arqueologia - Humanidades