As can be read in the Workprogramme, the central objectives of the research project can be outlined as follows:

1. To analyse and compare views on inclusion and exclusion from two connected but at the same time distinct perspectives: firstly, views on inclusion and exclusion underlying social policies; and secondly, inclusion and exclusion as experienced by different groups of citizens;

2. To gain insight into determinants of success and failure of participation strategies and integration policies, taking into account:

• the form of participation/work being stimulated by these policies;
• the domains of social integration aimed at in these policies;
• the cultural orientations of the target groups of these policies.

3. To make a critical assessment of the following logical sequences that underly most social policies:

• unemployment causes exclusion;
• paid work causes inclusion;
• unpaid work in itself cannot cause inclusion.

4. To present recommendations concerning future social policies, for example with respect to:

• the degree to and the conditions under which various forms of participation might contribute to inclusion;
• the conditions under which social policies might contribute to the empowerment of the poor and unemployed by facilitating participation strategies developed by these groups themselves;
• the degree to which tailor-made approaches to problems of exclusion (rather than universal or target-group oriented approaches) are desirable and feasible.

Against the background of these objectives, the research questions of the project refer to:

• definitions of inclusion and exclusion in social policies;
• experiences of inclusion of participants in social policy schemes;
• possible recommendations with respect to social policies aimed at inclusion and promoting full citizenship.

The work of the research project has been divided into four Work Packages, the aims of which may be summarized as follows:

Work Package 1: analysis of social policies

Objective: to analyze social policies and debates on inclusion and exclusion in order to obtain insight into views on social exclusion and inclusion on which these policies are grounded as well as insight into the discursive context in which these policies are formulated and implemented.

Work Package 2: analyzing existing and on-going empirical research into experiences of inclusion and exclusion

Objective: to analyze existing literature and on-going research projects in the field, focusing primarily on (evaluations of) social inclusion stimulating social policies; to clarify, elaborate and operationalize central concepts to be used in the casestudies.

Work Package 3: national casestudies

Objective: to gain empirical insight into experiences of inclusion and exclusion related to social policies promoting participation in various forms of work.

Work Package 4: synthesis, policy evaluation and policy recommendations

Objective: to synthesize data collected in the previous WP's in order to evaluate the strenghts and weaknesses of integration policies and in order to make recommendations with respect to social policies aimed at social inclusion.