Explanations of Social Exclusion: Where Does Housing Fit in?

Abstract

This paper takes the view that concepts of social exclusion are socially constructed by different combinations of economic, social and political processes. It is suggested that the core meaning of social exclusion is bound up with social isolation and social segregation, and it is therefore argued that an analysis of social mobility (or the lack of it) is crucial to understanding the content and extent of social exclusion. Three approaches to the analysis of social mobility are brie¯ y considered, and it is concluded that the causation of social exclusion appears to have three interrelated dimensions:economic, legal/political, and moral/ideological. The main theoretical approaches to social exclusion, encompassing `structural' and `cultural' perspectives, are then examined, and a new, more holistic theory is proposed, using the concept of a duality of interrelated labour processes. This theory is developed on three different levels, corresponding to the three dimensions of social exclusion. The final part of the paper is concerned with the application of the theory of social exclusion to housing processes. The latter are discussed under the headings of housing production, housing tenure, residential segregation, housing mobility, and processes associated with homelessness and leaving home. It is shown how housing processes cut across the different social levels (labour process, social reproduction and ideology), how they reflect prevailing patterns of social exclusion, and how they can either mitigate or reinforce those patterns. Social exclusion is distinguished from forms of housing exclusion (for example, relating to tenure), with which it is sometimes confused. It is noted that the groups which are commonly socially excluded through housing processes are those which are to be expected on the basis of the theory, namely unwaged, unskilled, not within a `traditional' family household, and seen as `undeserving'.

Fattigdom, social eksklusion og boligforhold

“…Generelt angiver Somerville (1998), at "boligprocesser" kan skabe social eksklusion ved at besvaerliggøre eller umuliggøre, at bestemte sociale grupper kan få kontrol over deres dagligliv eller ved at skabe barrierer for at opnå og udnytte bestemte typer af medborgerskabsrettigheder. Bestemte typer af boligområder er karakteriseret ved en ophobning af ekskluderede.…”

Contradictory and Intersecting Patterns of Inclusion and Exclusion of Street Youth in Salvador, Brazil

“…Horsell, 2006;Pleace, 1998;Somerville, 1998), focusing on structural exclusionary mechanisms such as unequal material distribution and discriminatory job and housing markets. Within the burgeoning literature, street dwellers are also described in terms of socio-spatial exclusion, demonstrating how they are perceived as 'unwelcome elements' in metropolitan areas in all corners of the world (e.g.…”

Context matters : a multilevel analysis of patterns of mobility to non-poor neighborhoods for poor renter households.

“…According to Somerville (1998), social exclusion has three interrelated dimensions (economic/labor, legal/political and moral/ideological) and has been explained in structural terms (exclusion caused by structured inequality) and/or cultural terms (exclusion caused by attitudes and behavior of the excluded). He suggests, however, that the distinction between these explanations is not clear-cut, and that a holistic theory of interrelated processes may be more useful.…”

“…Social exclusion may constrain mobility. Somerville (1998) describes two prevailing meanings of social exclusion: exclusion from capitalist labor markets (through unemployment, insecure employment or doing unpaid work) and denial of social citizenship (stigmatization, oppression and/or institutional discrimination through economic, social and/or political processes of exclusion). Exclusion via any of these pathways results in isolation and -segregation from the formal structures and institutions of the economy, society and the state‖ (p. 762) and is equivalent to relational poverty.…”

“…Exclusion via any of these pathways results in isolation and -segregation from the formal structures and institutions of the economy, society and the state‖ (p. 762) and is equivalent to relational poverty. Somerville asserts that social mobility, or -mobility into and out of the labour market, into and out of poverty, or between ‗deserving' and ‗undeserving' social categories‖ (p. 763) is limited by social exclusion, which is socially constructed.According to Somerville (1998), social exclusion has three interrelated dimensions (economic/labor, legal/political and moral/ideological) and has been explained in structural terms (exclusion caused by structured inequality) and/or cultural terms (exclusion caused by attitudes and behavior of the excluded). He suggests, however, that the distinction between these explanations is not clear-cut, and that a holistic theory of interrelated processes may be more useful.…”