Social exclusion
Social exclusion can be defined as how a person's
social class and
living standards affect their access to various opportunities.
To be "excluded from
society" can take various relative senses, but social exclusion is usually defined as more than a simple
economic phenomenon: it also has consequences on the social,
symbolic field.
Philosopher Axel Honneth thus speaks of a "struggle for
recognition", which he attempts to theorize through
Hegel's philosophy. In this sense, to be socially excluded is to be deprived from social recognition. In the sphere of
politics, social recognition is obtained by full
citizenship; in the economic sphere (in
capitalism) it means being paid enough to be able to participate fully in the life of the community..
The problem of social exclusion is usually tied to the problem of
equal opportunity, as some people are more subject to such exclusion than others.
Marginalization of certain groups is a problem even in many economically more developed countries, including the
United Kingdom (UK) and the
United States (US), where the majority of the population enjoys considerable economic and social opportunities..
Since social exclusion may lead to one being deprived of one's citizenship, some authors (
Philippe Van Parijs,
Jean-Marc Ferry,
Alain Caillé,
André Gorz) have theorized a
guaranteed minimum income which would impede exclusion from citizenship.
[ P. Hassenteufel, "Exclusion sociale et citoyenneté", "Citoyenneté et société", Cahiers Francais, n° 281, mai-juin 1997, quoted by Bertrand Villalba of the Catholic University of Lille: ]*
Gilles Deleuze,
A Thousand Plateaus (1980)
*
Axel Honneth,
The Struggle for Recognition: Moral Grammar of Social Conflicts (1996)
*
Karl Marx,
Economic and Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844 *
Philippe Van Parijs,
Real Freedom for All: What (if anything) can justify capitalism? (1995)
*
John Rawls,
A Theory of Justice (1971)
*
Social Exclusion Housing*
Is the U.S. a Good Model for Reducing Social Exclusion in Europe? Center for Economic and Policy Research, August 2006
*
Social alienation*
Marx's theory of alienation*
Second-class citizen*
Poverty*
Guaranteed Minimum Income*
Gross Domestic Product*
Child Poverty Action Group
