What is social exclusion, how does it relate to poverty and social inequality and why does it matter?
What is it? Social exclusion describes a situation where certain groups within a society are systematically disadvantaged because they are discriminated against. Such groups are often differentiated by race, ethnicity, age or gender. Social exclusion exists to some degree in all societies, and can occur across a number of dimensions: economic, social, political and cultural. These different forms of disadvantage form a self-reinforcing cycle. http://www.gsdrc.org/go/topic-guides/soc… Why does it matter? Social exclusion refers to the complex processes that deny certain groups access to mainstream life. Social exclusion is a concept that is used in many parts of the world outside the United States to characterize contemporary forms of social disadvantage. At the ISE, we use the phrase to refer to processes by which entire communities of people are systematically blocked from rights, opportunities and reso
