Title: Marginalization | Encyclopedia.com
Headings: Marginalization
Marginalization
Marginalization
BIBLIOGRAPHY
marginalization

Content: Concern with marginalization is relatively recent. As the advance of democratization and citizenship swell the ranks of those “ included ” in the social order, the plight of those with limited access to the franchise and without rights or at least enforceable claims to rights becomes problematic. Our discussion focuses on two main issues. First, what are marginalizing processes and how do they operate? Second, why are so many of the same groups — women, ethnic groups, religious minorities — marginalized in a variety of situations and institutions? Major approaches to marginalization are represented by neoclassical economics, Marxism, social exclusion theory, and recent research that develops social exclusion theory findings. Neoclassical economists trace marginalization to individual character flaws or to cultural resistance to individualism. Their explanations of poverty stress the notion of the residuum, defined as those “ limp in both body and mind. ” This residuum — the term was made famous by the Cambridge economist, Alfred Marshall — will only work when forced to do so. Generous social policies encourage its members to stay out of the labor force.