Abstract
Social exclusion is a progression where some people or groups are excluded from the mainstream society. These excluded people or groups are unable to access the benefits that are available to other people of the society. There are various reasons of social exclusion and the process of exclusion exists in every society across the world in one form or the other. Social exclusion is a painful process for the individuals or groups that are excluded because humans are social creatures and when they are neglected by other people on various grounds, they feel extremely dejected. There are different reasons of social exclusions in different parts of the world but through negotiations and affection, all kinds of social exclusions can be solved.
Introduction
Social exclusion has emerged as a matter of concern in all communities across the globe. Social exclusion refers to a practice or procedure under which some specific groups of people are excluded and deprived because of discrimination based on their colour, race, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion or various other factors. In social exclusion, some individuals or a complete group is blocked from several opportunities, resources and rights that are generally available to other people or groups. Incidents of discrimination are common across different public and private institutions such as education, healthcare and social institutions.
Social exclusion is present in various forms and can be applied in case of an individual, community, society or small group of people. Different people have different understanding of social exclusion that depend on various factors, such as groups or individuals that are at the risk of exclusion or are already excluded, services from which people or risk groups are deprived i.e. education and healthcare, impact of social exclusion along with associated problems, and agents involve in social exclusion. Social exclusion encompasses several dimensions including economic, cultural, social and political dimensions. Social exclusion produces social interactions that are known as unequal power associations. It is capable of damaging bonding between people and communities which reduces social protection and participation and discourages the concept of social integration and equal distribution of power & wealth. Social exclusion complements the idea of inequality and focuses on disparity among people. The objective of this paper is to analyze different forms of social exclusion, their impact on society and associated problems and implications.
Background
Social exclusion concept was first developed in the Europe. During the late 19th century and through 20th century, the concept of social exclusion was seen with the lens of welfare state. Despite of rules and regulations that encourage equal treatment for all people and prohibit any type of discrimination based on religion, race and colour, few groups of people were not provided with the provisions that were made under welfare state. For example, all factory workers were introduced to welfare and social security measures. Socially excluded people were not protected under these measures because they were not eligible. Under eligibility criteria, a person is eligible only if he or she is factory worker. People who were physically or mentally disabled were not able to do factory work, hence; they were excluded and were not given any benefits of welfare. In the Europe, the emphasis was placed on spatial exclusion (Saith, 2001, p. 3).
During mid-1970s, economic restructuring took place that gave birth to several social problems. Advancing capitalist democracies emphasized on economic restructuring that drove the concept of social exclusion. Silver (1994) in his article mentions about three social paradigms in which concept of social exclusion is rooted: monopoly, solidarity and specialisation. According to the author, different types of political ideologies i.e. democracy, liberalism and republicanism facilitated the formation of such paradigms and encouraged social exclusion (Silver, 1994, p. 532).
Forms of Social Exclusion
Social exclusion is the result of different types of discrimination that are based on race, ethnicity, religion, gender, economic status etc. Processes of discrimination can be reinforced by religion, government policies, cultural practices, old traditions, public or private institutes and by various other means. There can be various forms of social exclusion depending upon type of discrimination.
Race Based Discrimination:
Race plays a major role in social exclusion and inequality. Race has always been a matter of taboo in various countries. In various countries including United States of America, different racial groups faced disadvantages. In United States, African American communities were deprived of proper education, employment and equal remuneration. Black communities in America were initially not treated fairly and they were forced to work as slaves for white people. People of black race were not allowed to get education, and health care facilities. They were not even paid for their services. Discrimination based on race and colour resulted in high level of poverty among African American people.
Discrimination, based on race, is prohibited in Bible. Bible states that “hath made of one blood all nations of men”, which means that all people are equal in front of god irrespective of their race (Althoff, 2014, p. 779). However, Churches were also not free from racial discrimination. Althoff mentions that Pentecostalism is reflection of larger society and churches used to treat people unequally based on their race and colour. In America, blacks used to have their separate churches (Althoff, 2014, p. 781).
In everyday life, race influences behaviour of people and helps them in building an identity for them. Wade (2005), in his article, describes how race developed a culture and identity. Wade, based on his primary and secondary research, mentions that people prefer mix identity over black or white identity. Especially African American people want to create a space in their lives for developing race diversity. Black people were deprived of even basic facilities in their past which forced them to think about racial diversity and creating a mix identity for themselves in order to avoid discrimination and social exclusion (Wade, 2005, p. 240).
Ethnicity and Culture Based Discrimination:
Social exclusion, based on ethnicity and culture, affects access to assets and goods to excluded people. In different institutions, as well as, organizations, culture based exclusion does not only affect excluded group but also it affects the end consumers. Ethnicity and culture based discrimination is present in numerous countries and societies. In countries such as India, where multiple cultures exist in a single country, culture based discrimination was very common. Culture based discrimination is result of social attitude, ill practices and discriminatory rules and regulations by authorities.
It is very difficult for the government to create structure of social inclusion. Mustafa (2005) in his report talks about inequality present in public sector organizations in Nigeria due to ethnic structure. Nigeria is multi-ethnic country and ethno-regional division further encourages ethnic discrimination. It is observed that success of societies and all groups of people can not be achieved without eliminating discrimination. In presence of discrimination one group succeed whereas other group deprived (Mustafa, 2005, p. 3).
Religion Based Discrimination:
Exclusion based on religion can be categorized in two types: first, when someone rejects to practice religion freely and disobey the rule of equality; second, exclusion of individuals or group of people form socio-economic, political and legal rights because of their religious identity. Discrimination based on religion or discrimination performed by religious authorities creates inequality. For example, in India dalit, groups of people from specific cast were not allowed to go to temples. Similarly, in United States Blacks were not allowed to visit churches made for white people. However, Bible does not encourage any type of discrimination based on religion (Bhattacharyya et al., 2010, p. 84).
People who believe in certain religion follow that blindly and consider their religion superior than other. This practice results in discrimination based on religion. Countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, and India that have significant percentage of people from different religions often face social exclusion based religion. Majority rules whereas minority get disadvantaged. Bhargava (2004) mentions that Pakistan and Bangladesh do not follow secularism, hence, they are on higher risk of exclusion than secular states that have presence of multiple religions (Bhargava, 2004).
Gender Based Discrimination:
Social exclusion is one of the most common and widely present discrimination even in contemporary society. Women are subject to social exclusion in different socio, economic and political spheres. Discrimination against women was very common during old days and existing even in today’s society. Women are facing different barriers to their professional participations. Despite of significant contributions in development and growth of the countries their role was always questioned. In job market gender discrimination is clearly visible when women are offered low wages as compare to their male counterparts. Women also do not receive promotion even after deploying hard efforts and achieving good performance.
Women representation in local, national and international governing bodies is limited. Even in private organizations, women representation in top senior executive positions is also very limited. Very few women are holding CEO position in large multinational companies as compare to men. It is also observed that a large portion of women is deployed in informal economy activities, which results in job insecurity, low wages and poor working conditions. Reproduction of women discrimination is supported and encouraged by governing bodies, religious leaders, and social norms.
Bible does not deprive women from their rights and consider all men and women equal, but religious leaders provoked people to restrict role of women to house. In several societies the role of women is still restricted house work only. Traditional barriers prevent women to perform outside works. Several women in present society can not perform outside works because they are solely responsible for childcare and household duties. In Various Muslim countries such as Saudi Arabia and Pakistan women are not allowed to perform external works. Even religious leaders prohibit women to wear western cloths (Razani and Jenichen, 2010, p. 834-35). The issue of gender base discrimination is wide and deeply rooted in all societies.
Discrimination of women is persisting in developing countries where in some societies girls are not allowed to get even basic education. Morrisson and Jutting (2005) in their article mention that economic participation of women in developing countries is much impacted by the local traditions, family code of conducts and laws. Social institutions that are established at local level can restrict women participation in economic activities. In several societies and families women are not allowed to set up their own business or to work after having baby (Morrisson and Jutting, 2005, p. 1065).
Growing age Based Discrimination:
One of the prominent factors that cause social exclusion in a huge population is old age. The number of old aged people is growing fast across the world and a substantial percentage of old age men and women face exclusion in their old age. It has been found in a number of instances that old age people are marginalized from the mainstream society due to a number of factors. Old age people face such exclusions in their old age due to weaker financial position, physical and mental infirmity (Beales, 2000, p. 3-5).
Youngsters do not intermingle with old age people and they are left out by their family and society because of their age. Old age people do not have any say in the important decisions at family or social levels whether they are financial, social or any other affairs. Being incapable of performing majority of tasks, old age people face a number of problems. They experience discrimination and often denied of even basic services including healthcare. All the prejudices regarding old age people should be finished and it can be achieved by only a well-organized mechanism.
Disability Based Discrimination:
Disability causes exclusion as disabled people have restricted reach to education, jobs and various other services. Disability can be mental or physical, but both types of disability cause social exclusion. People treat disabled persons as liability and do not wish to keep them around. Disability is considered as stigma in the society and disabled persons are excluded from taking part in significant decisions. Disabled people are often excluded and denied key roles in family, society and politics.
As per estimates, 10 to 15 percent people of the world’s population are suffering from disability of one type or the other. A substantial number of this excluded population face discrimination at various stages of their life. Disable people face various social and financial restraints in their life and they are left out to suffer. There is a need to address the needs and issues of disabled people. Disabled people deserve a better treatment and reputed life instead of an excluded life (WHO and World Bank, 2011, p 1-2).
Discrimination Based on Aids and other contagious diseases:
Diseases such as aids and other contagious diseases also cause exclusion at family and social level. People, who suffer from serious, contagious and chronic diseases, are left out at their own condition to suffer by their family and society. People, suffering from such diseases, are deserted by the society due to abhorrence and fear. There are several instances where people leave their close family members. Bearing expenses of treatment of such patients is expensive and at the same time, people fear that they also might be infected. Social exclusion of patients is neither a solution nor humane and there is a need to present a better solution of the exclusion of patients (Whiteside, 2002, p. 314).
Impact of Social Exclusion
Social exclusion in any form negatively impacts functioning and growth of the nation. It is difficult to attain social goals such as to reduce poverty, or to improve health indicators in presence of social exclusion. Reaching to the people or groups that are socially excluded is challenging task due to high barriers. Social exclusion normally involves various dimensions and reinforces other forms of social exclusions. For example, exclusion in form of gender or race or culture will make it difficult to achieve economic equality. People and groups who are deprived also lacked in terms of education, good job and wealth status.
High level of poverty of people and groups who are socially excluded generally translates into poor education and health level. Poor people reside in areas that lack in terms of proper infrastructure, facilities and services. Accessibility to such remote locations is a challenge in front of different philanthropic institutions that want to extend their support to deprived people. Exclusion based on culture deprives people from one culture and hamper their growth. Discrimination based on gender keeps large percentage of women away from extending their hand in economic development of the country. Overall exclusion in any form hinders the overall growth of the nation (Madanipour, Cars, and Allen, 2000, p. 10).
Conclusion
After going through the analysis of the social exclusion and its different aspects, it can be concluded that social exclusion has emerged as a major issue of concern in different societies across the world. There are a number of factors that play very crucial role in social exclusion and keep it alive. Religion, culture, race, ethnicity, gender, old age, diseases and various other factors cause social exclusion and also cause millions of people to suffer. Social exclusion itself is very painful because human beings prefer to stay in the society. They cannot sustain without interacting with their family or other people of the society. When people are forced to stay out of the society due to various reasons, they feel excluded and deserted. There are solutions of social exclusions and if people are determined, such issues can be dealt in prudent ways. People, who discriminate with others on whatsoever basis, need to understand that they are also human beings like them.
Research Paper Outline
Introduction: Social exclusion is a procedure under which specific groups of people are excluded and deprived from certain rights, resources and services because of discrimination based on their colour, race, gender, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion or various other factors.
Thesis Statement: Social exclusion complements the idea of inequality and focuses on disparity among people; hence, the objective of this paper is to analyze different forms of social exclusion, their impact on society and associated problems and implications.
Background: This section informs readers about the origin of the concept of social exclusion, under what circumstances social exclusion arises, how it travelled so far, and what factors keeping it alive.
Forms of Social Exclusion: This section describes different forms of social discrimination and exclusion. There are various factors that encourage discrimination and further exclusion. This section details out all these factors and how they results into exclusion along with various examples from different societies.
Race Based Discrimination
Ethnicity and Culture Based Discrimination
Religion Based Discrimination
Gender Based Discrimination
Growing age Based Discrimination
Disability Based Discrimination
Discrimination Based on Aids and other contagious diseases
Impact of Social Exclusion: this section provides information on impact of different types of exclusion on our society and its growth. The section also informs about how one type of exclusion promotes other forms of exclusion.
Conclusion: Different forms of social exclusions are present in our society for long time despite of anti-rules and regulations. Each form of exclusion is not good for society and humans as it hampers the overall growth of the nation.
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