Social Exclusion: The Definition Of Social Inclusion

Social exclusion is a contested term with multiple definitions, it is complex, multifaceted and has a variety of dimensions. Social exclusion is ‘the dynamic process of being shut out, fully or partially, from any of the social, economic, political and cultural systems which determine the social integration of a person in a society’ (Walker and Walker 1997:8). There’s no one universal definition of social exclusion, however lack of participation in any dimension of society is at its core. Therefore, social exclusion is subjective and leads to a lack of agency, which results to the feeling of alienation and isolation from society. Hence, ‘social exclusion is a complex and multi-dimensional process… it affects both the quality of life of individuals

This type of exclusion comes under the political bracket, as it includes the rejection of citizen rights, such as the right to vote, freedom of speech and equal opportunities. Bhalla and Lapeyre (1997) argue that political exclusion ‘involves the notion that the State, which grants basic rights and civil liberties, is not a neutral agency but a vehicle of the dominant classes’, thus, exclude some social groups and include others. However, one must note that citizenship is not only political, as social citizenship refers to ‘the rights and obligations that determine the identity of members of a social and political community and which as a result regulates access to the benefits and privileges of members’ (Turner, 1997). Thus, citizenship is centred on the capacity of using individual and collective rights, and inequalities which can cause a social hierarchy, created of first class and second class citizens. When individuals are made unequal before the they do not have access to public goods, which consequently leads to alienation from society, and lack of opportunities freedom. T H Marshall divided citizenship into three aspects; civil (the right to certain freedoms), political (right to take part in elections) and social (the right to some economic welfare and to ‘share to the full of the social heritage and to live the life of a civilized being accorded to the standards prevailing in the society’(Marshall,1963). Citizenship should be a status enjoyed by the members of a political and social community which is attached to rights and obligations, without these one is excluded from society and isolated from society and oneself. The exclusion of ethnic minorities comes under the bracket of the problem of citizenship. In Britain, the Social Exclusion Unit of the government stated in 2000, that ‘In comparison to their representation in the population, people