Throughout history many people have been separated from the rest, experiencing some type of social exclusion. This phenomenon is defined as the absence of participation and opportunities of groups of individuals within a society.
The causes behind social exclusion are very varied, since it is a multidimensional phenomenon. A person can be socially excluded due to economic, labor, cultural and political factors, among others.
Here we will see What are the main causes of social exclusion? in addition to understanding the origins of this concept and the importance it has acquired in Western societies.
We can define social exclusion as the absence of participation and opportunities of individuals within the daily and basic dynamics of the society in which they live
It is often represented by the rejection of individuals with traits different from those socially accepted, who are deprived of fundamental rights and find it difficult to fully develop in society.
Social exclusion It occurs mainly in developing countries, but can also be observed in developed societies Be that as it may, this manifests itself in the form of inequality, marginalization, discrimination, poverty and vulnerability of some sectors of the population. What usually produces this type of situation has to do with aspects such as economic status, gender, race, religion, disabilities, sexual identity, immigration status…
Although the conceptualization of the term “social exclusion” is very recent, this does not mean that it has not been experienced for a long time. In fact, social exclusion has been a constant throughout human history and has been present in all civilizations.
Social exclusion is a collective phenomenon, in the sense that it applies to a group of people who share one or several characteristics that are not well regarded by the majority of society. It is also multifaceted and multidimensional, and It usually involves the use of social labels, usually in a pejorative way as a mode of differentiation and stigma to determine inequality in relationships between individuals or social groups.
The causes behind this phenomenon are very varied and, although we are going to explain them in more detail below, we can anticipate that they have to do above all with economic, social and political aspects. The extensive list of the causes behind social exclusion would be almost infinite, since it is a very complex phenomenon that can occur in multiple ways.
In the Western world, at least in Europe, governments try to reduce social exclusion as much as possible. Democratic and developed countries enact laws with the intention of ending social exclusion through the integration of the population and the application of measures that promote equal rights and opportunities. In principle, by ensuring that everyone sees their fundamental rights respected and are fully integrated into the society where they reside, social exclusion will disappear.
The idea of exclusion as we understand it appears after the end of the Second World War, although it acquired special relevance during the 1980s thanks to the French politician Jacques Delors. At this time this term acquired great importance in the countries of Western Europe, especially among the members of the European Economic Community (EEC), the precursor of the current European Union. This institution presents a resolution called “Combating social exclusion,” this document being the first official appearance of the term.
Although the term is widely heard in Western European legislation, other societies such as the United States or Asian countries have not shown so much interest in combating social exclusion. Its reception has not been especially strong in African countries and, although with some intention to combat it, it cannot be said that Latin America has managed to make much progress in its eradication.
It just so happens that In countries where the idea of social exclusion is not so well known, it is preferred to use the term poverty to refer to this phenomenon Although poverty and social exclusion are related, they are not synonymous terms since poverty refers more to the deprivation of wealth and economic difficulties while social exclusion implies a much more multifaceted, multidimensional and multicomponent problem.
The 3 types of causes of social exclusion
As we were saying, the causes behind social exclusion are many, however, these can be grouped into three main types: economic, social and political.
One of the main reasons why a person can be socially excluded is money. Not having enough purchasing power is one of the most important factors in generating social gaps. The lack of money, wherever we are, translates into difficulties in being able to lead a full life.
For many, economic poverty is synonymous with social exclusion, which is why some country legislation continues to confuse both expressions. Although poverty and social exclusion are closely related, it is worth saying that Economic poverty would be nothing more than one of the causes that lead to exclusion, since as we have commented, social exclusion is a multidimensional phenomenon
In the list of economic causes behind social exclusion we can find:
2. Sociocultural causes
The social and cultural causes behind social exclusion are many, and in most cases they depend on how society is configured. Among them we find personal traits, that is, characteristics of people who, because the society in which they are not found does not perceive them as socially acceptable, forces them to remain isolated of the rest of the individuals. That is, they are a cause of discrimination and social exclusion itself, finding:
sexual orientation
Sex and gender
Race and ethnicity
Nationality and cultural identity
Mother tongue
Religion
It is important to mention that One of the causes behind social exclusion is the lack of a support network, something very common among migrants This phenomenon is the fact of not having family or friends from whom to receive help if required. For example, single migrant mothers often face this problem, as they are too far from their families to receive help from them and are forced to manage to balance their family life and work life alone.
Another cause of social exclusion is the “voluntary” self-exclusion of the individual. Some people separate themselves from the rest of society on their own, something that can be explained in many ways based on the individual’s own personal history. In some cases it is because they have a mental disorder that makes it difficult for them to interact with other people, such as social phobia or antisocial personality disorder.
Finally, Among the causes of social exclusion related to the social, we would have the individual’s own behavioral problems Some people, despite not having a socially unacceptable trait, find it difficult to fit into society because they have disruptive behaviors or completely lack social skills, without presenting any mental disorder. This means that the rest of the members of their society are not interested in spending time with them.
You may be interested: “What is Cultural Psychology?”
3. Political causes
Finally we enter into the political causes, although these actually blur a bit with the sociocultural and economic causes, since politics never departs from the cultural and economic. In them we could include any cause that produces social exclusion and has to do with ideology, human rights and freedom of expression
In Western countries, social exclusion for political reasons is rare, while it frequently occurs in countries with authoritarian regimes, where only one or a limited set of ideologies are considered admissible. Therefore, it is not strange to find that Latin American, Islamic, Asian and European Slavic countries have Policies that promote the isolation of those who do not think the same as those in power
The lack of legally recognized rights is also a political cause of social exclusion. This has been a constant throughout history, discriminating against people based on cultural, social and economic aspects. We have an example of lack of rights due to economic reasons in the first liberal revolutions, in which census suffrage was implemented (for example, the United States), recognizing the right to vote but only for those who had a certain income.
Another example of lack of rights, this time related to culture, is the situation that many speakers of minority languages experience when they do not have laws that encourage their use or that recognize their right to speak them with the administration. We can find this example with languages such as Asturian, Aragonese or Occitan which, as they do not enjoy full official status, their speakers are not politically recognized to receive education in these languages or to address the bureaucracy in them.
