Overcoming Political Exclusion

Overcoming Political Exclusion identifies hurdles preventing marginalized people from taking an active part in customary and democratic decision-making. The publication describes how marginalized groups—including people from religious, ethnic, and linguistic minorities; people facing caste-based discrimination; people with disabilities; young peop≤ indigenous peoples; people from remote geographical locations; and people discriminated against on the basis of their sexual orientation—have worked to overcome barriers to their participation in governance. Based on a 38 case studies written by activists from different parts of the world, the study identifies strategies that reflect how marginalized people have managed the transition from political exclusion to inclusion both in customary and democratic politics.

This report identifies critical factors preventing marginalized women’s inclusion in customary and democratic decision-making structures. It details specific strategies marginalized women and their supporters have adopted, ranging from direct action strategies in Somaliland to “soft” advocacy strategies in Cambodia, in overcoming barriers to their participation. The report’s 10 case studies gather knowledge and practical experience from around the world and show how women can impact on political processes through their participation in politics.

Assessing the limits of pluralism, this book examines different types of political inclusion and exclusion and their distinctive dimensions and dynamics. Why are particular social groups excluded from equal participation in political processes? How do these groups become more fully included as equal participants? Often, the critical issue is not whether a group is included but how it is included. Collectively, these essays elucidate a wide range of inclusion or exclusion: voting participation, representation in legislative assemblies, representation of group interests in processes of policy formation and implementation, and participation in discursive processes of policy framing. Covering broad territory—from African Americans to Asian Americans, the transgendered to the disabled, and Latinos to Native Americans—this volume examines in depth the give and take between how policies shape political configuration and how politics shape policy. At a more fundamental level, Ericson and his contributors raise some traditional and some not-so-traditional issues about the nature of democratic politics in settings with a multitude of group identities.

To varying extents in developed countries a minority of the population suffers from deprivation. Britain's Labour government in particular has sought to deal with this through the notion of 'social exclusion', and similar ideas have been developed in other countries. This important text explores the various forms of this contemporary economic and social disadvantage and, in particular, investigates its social and spatial causes and the role of space in policies addressing disadvantage. Arranged in three distinct parts, it: introduces contemporary and historical conceptualizations of social exclusion and poverty analyzes social exclusion's origins by examining the different spheres of disadvantage and their relations discusses strategies for overcoming social exclusion, and analyzes policy ideas from across the political spectrum. This book is the first to systematically analyze the role of geography in poverty and social exclusion, and deals with the roles of 'globalization' and localism. Though its main focus is Britain, it investigates similarities and differences in other developed countries. Spaces of Social Exclusion is a key text for researchers and students throughout the social sciences, social policy, human geography and urban studies, as well as policy makers and practitioners in social and urban policy.

This volume looks at the three dimensions of social exclusion: economic, social and political. Exclusion is analyzed as a new approach to such issues as the 'new' poverty, precariousness, long-term unemployment, social polarization and lack of citizenship. The book shows how relational and distributional aspects of poverty are interlinked.

In Western Europe, the notion of social exclusion is rapidly diffusing in recent years. This book investigates the notion of social exclusion as a new way to approach social issues such as the 'new poverty' long-term-unemployment, precariousness, social polarization and disintegration. Particular attention is paid to both the global relevance of an approach in terms of social exclusion and its value compared to more conventional approaches in terms of poverty of deprivation. It is shown that social exclusion goes beyond these by explicitly embracing the relational as well as the distributional aspects of poverty and emphasizing processes. In this book, the authors explore the specific forms of social exclusion in the ongoing processes of globalization, deregulation, crisis of the welfare state, and rise of individualism.

This volume looks at concepts and processes of social exclusion and social inclusion. It traces a number of discourses, all of them routed in a relational power analysis, examining them in the context of the UN Agenda for Sustainable Development 2030 with its commitment to "leave no one behind." The book combines analysis that is fundamentally critical of the rhetoric of social inclusion in academic and UN discourse with narratives of social exclusion processes and social inclusion contestation, based on ethnographic field research findings in Bogota, Kingston, Port-au-Prince, Kampala, Beijing, Chongqing, Mumbai, Delhi, and villages in Northern India. As a result, it contributes to revealing the politics of social inclusion, offering policy proposals towards overcoming exclusions.

Millions of human beings the world over survive in conditions of poverty and social exclusion, and this is unlikely to change in the years to come. This grave situation affects the whole of humanity, which cannot and must not shut its eyes to it. Social exclusion is spreading so much that it is becoming one of the keys to understanding the economic and social situation of the world today. This book attempts to deciper the concept of social exclusion. It aims to identify, analyse and measure exclusion and make it more visible. It also aims to provide a detailed overview of those involved and their initiatives.