Who are the marginalized in modern sociology?
Marginalized people are people who are outside certain social groups. These are citizens with lawful behavior, of different financial incomes, married or single, with or without children.
Marginalized people can live in society, but do not follow social norms the same way as others do.
In an essay by American sociologist R.E. The park “Human Migration and the Marginal Man,” dedicated to this topic, compares the marginalized with emigrants who left their native lands and live in another state on benefits and subsidies. This comparison is also appropriate, but does not fully correspond to the desire of sociologists to marginalize other layers.
A marginalized person, in simple words, is a person who lives in a certain territory, but does not consider himself obliged to follow established social rules. But the majority of marginalized people comply with the framework of behavior established by law, which relates not to social, but to legal norms.
Who can be classified as a marginalized population?
Those who are called marginalized in today's realities are, in fact, most often lumpen. The unforgettable Karl Marx included beggars, vagabonds, bandits, and degenerate people into this layer of the population.
According to the prevailing stereotype, marginalized people and lumpen people have common interests and lead a similar lifestyle. This is not entirely true.
What is the difference between marginalized people and lumpen people?
Lumpens are morally degraded people who are at one of the stages of degradation and are gradually descending lower and lower, approaching an animal state. The marginalized can be lumpen, but not always. Marginalized are those who do not fit into society, have their own philosophy and lead a lifestyle that is unusual for those around them.
Who can be considered marginalized:
- Voluntary hermits who do not recognize social values (downshifters, freelancers);
- Migrants who were unable to integrate into the cultural environment of the country in which they now live;
- People who left their usual place of life (village residents in the city and vice versa);
- People with physical disabilities or mental illness;
- Carriers of dying national cultures;
- Adherents of bad habits to an extreme degree (gamblers, drug addicts, alcoholics);
- Followers of religious minorities, sectarians;
- Those who belong to radical political movements preach terrorism;
- People who find themselves below the poverty line;
- Those released from prison after a long period of restriction of freedom.
How do marginalized people differ from lumpen people?
It is believed that lumpen and marginalized are identical concepts to each other. But that's not true. The world first learned about the lumpen from Karl Marx. He included tramps and beggars in this group. These are citizens who have sunk to the bottom of life. They do not work and do not have a permanent place of residence. Society considers them trash, low class, not worth paying attention to. But this is in vain, since it is the fallen elements that can become the backbone of crime.
A person leading a marginal lifestyle is not always a lumpen.
A marginalized person is a person who can be financially secure and live well in his own world. But he does not burden himself with any social obligations.
Reasons for marginality
Like any phenomenon, the emergence of marginality has its reasons:
- Political: a person is unable to adapt to a rapidly changing political environment. He cannot give preference to any party and does not vote in elections. He is politically passive.
- Psychological reasons: a member of society does not find understanding among people, cannot understand the events happening around him. He does not agree with the decisions made by the authorities, but is forced to obey under the threat of legal punishment. Severing social ties is his free choice.
- Migration: people who flee the countries where they were born and worked, pursuing different goals. In the state that sheltered them, they become marginalized.
- Financial: this aspect is associated with the loss of a good financial position. A person loses a high-paying job if he leaves the circle of wealthy people. But he cannot be called a beggar. His position is a middle position, located outside social groups divided according to the principle of financial wealth.
A marginalized society is made up of different people. They may have high or low mental abilities, talents or lack thereof, material wealth or be poor.
Basic types of marginality with examples
- Social marginality. The reason may be the individual’s desire to rise to an unattainable level. Because of this, he puts everything on the line, and if he loses, he falls to the very bottom of society. An example is the sad fate of Alexander Danilovich Menshikov (1673–1729), His Serene Highness, Generalissimo, associate of Peter the Great. Under Peter I, he was the second person in the state. Under Catherine I, Peter's widow, he actually ruled the Empire. After her death, he was sent into exile in Siberia, where he died in poverty. Or another option: a marginalized person tries to climb the “social elevator”, but gets “stuck” between floors and falls out of all social groups. He left the lower one, but could not gain a foothold in the upper one.
- Financial marginality , including lumpen (the term was introduced by K. Marx). Generates “economic scum of society.” This can happen due to long-term unemployment or due to the fact that a person becomes a victim of scammers (remember the numerous victims of the MMM financial pyramid) and other criminals, wasting the remaining funds on medicine. In an era of economic crises, the number of such marginalized people is growing rapidly.
- Political marginality. Arises as a result of political crises, changes in socio-economic formations (revolution / counter-revolution), political regimes. An example of political marginals who did not have time to flee after the October Revolution of 1917, the “bourgeois”.
- Ethnic marginality. A classic example is the Jews in Hitler's Third Reich and the occupied territories. Or the same immigrants who “came in large numbers” to the United States at the beginning of the 20th century, who gave the name to the phenomenon (about this, see below).
- Religious marginality. An example is heretics in the Middle Ages. Or neo-pagans in some modern countries.
- Biological marginality. This applies to those people who have defects or health problems. An example is lepers (in the old days) or people with AIDS in our time.
Types of marginalized people
Not in all, but in most cases, the concept of marginality is a temporary phenomenon. Sociologists believe that when a person adapts to life in modern society, he loses his status as an outcast and ceases to be one. But not everyone wants to take an active part in the life of a particular country. Marginalized people can work and have business connections, but not use them to their advantage. A marginal family adheres to its own rules and is closed to society.
Types of marginality are divided among themselves according to the criterion of the sources of this phenomenon. And marginalized groups have their own characteristics.
Political marginals
These can be classified as people who moved from one country to another and did not have time to adapt to political processes. These are migrants, internally displaced persons, tourists traveling around the world and staying for a long time in any country. Also included in the political fringes are people who did not experience coups in their home country and were unable to settle into the new reality.
Ethnic marginalized
Usually they are called people who are born in interethnic, interracial marriages. The person does not accept any of the parents’ nationalities, corresponding conditions and traditions. This category includes representatives of ethnic minorities. They live in a separate group, on the territory of a country, according to their own rules and traditions.
Religious fringes
People who can create the basis for a new religion and beliefs. These can easily include representatives of religious movements and sects. They skillfully play on the psychology of members of society who are dissatisfied with their lives and dream of changing it. Means and forces for the latter in many cases do not matter. Particularly susceptible people can wait their entire lives for a solution to their problems with the help of outside forces, the Divine, or a mission.
Social marginals
This type may include marginalized people who do not accept established traditions and customs and modern social norms. At the same time, they can be law-abiding citizens. Their behavior is based on indifference to ongoing socio-political phenomena, the results of coups, etc.
History of the term
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As for the history of the origin of the term “marginal,” it comes from the Latin word “margo,” which means “edge” or “edge.” Thus, a marginal is a person who is on the edge or beyond. The term became popular in the 20s of the last century in the USA. This was the name given to those who came to the States in pursuit of their dreams, but were never able to adapt to the new way of life and dropped out of society. Later this term acquired a broader meaning.
Despite the fact that in the modern world the word “marginal” and words with the same root have a clearly negative connotation, it cannot be said unequivocally that they all have only bad properties. Yes, marginalized people have difficulty maintaining their own comfort and even meeting basic needs. Because of their ingrained habit of acting outside the law, they can become dangerous to other members of society.
But at the same time, due to their non-standard nature, they can sometimes think differently from the “herd”. It happened that artists, philosophers, scientists and other creative people were made marginal. Therefore, even the marginalized can contribute something valuable and useful to a society that rejects them.
Sometimes marginalized people come up with new types of business that, due to their standard thinking, the “right” people cannot think of.
Typically, marginalized individuals are not strongly attached to anything. They are more flexible. It is easier for them to move towards their goal. For example, move to another area or radically change your field of activity. Therefore, before calling someone a “marginalist,” you should understand more deeply what this particular person is like.
Pros and cons of marginality
The advantages of marginality include a person’s feeling of inner freedom and non-participation in the political and social spheres of society’s development. Society is not always able to bring useful trends into a person’s life.
Sociologists note that marginalized people easily adapt to globalization processes, and also contribute to the formation of new approaches to the study of social structures that go beyond historical and national traditions.
The disadvantages include the risk of an increase in crime due to incoming emigrants to any country. Developed countries and European countries especially suffer from this. In addition, psychologists note that marginalized people contribute to the violation of social identity.
Society's attitude towards the marginalized
People who are marginalized are treated with caution. Members of society do not understand people who differ from them in standard ideas about life. History shows that marginalized people can influence the cultural and historical life of a society.
Basically, such people have their own opinions about how to improve society, which traditions in it are not consistent with modern realities. Sociologists believe that, thanks to the opposition, opinion, the marginal - an ordinary person who represents the possible further development of culture in society.
Still have questions? Write your opinion in the comments.
Marginal identity
It must be said that marginalized people have their own form of mentality. As representatives of different social groups of society, marginalized people reject (and more often do not fully accept) certain cultural values and traditions of the society (in the broad sense) in which they find themselves. Marginalized individuals assert and adhere to their own system of norms and values, adopted in closed or semi-closed groups. Various marginal groups are formed according to ethnic, social, cultural
cultural, aesthetic, ideological and other principles, social and behavioral attitudes and orientations.
As you can see, the marginalized is a concept firmly connected with modern society; one can even safely say that marginality is its bright, obvious and distinctive feature. The emergence of such a concept as the marginalized, in turn, was greatly influenced by such phenomena as: urbanization; emancipation of ethnic minorities; changing methods of production - the transition from a rigid machine-type organization in mega-teams to a flexible organization of small groups. It should be noted that the concept of marginalized people also appears in criminology.
Thus, speaking about the term marginal, we can safely say that this is a person who is on the border of two environments; a person who, due to his position, finds himself outside a certain social stratum or group (marginal person, marginalized). Oddly enough, the term marginal is often used as a negative assessment in relation to, for example, lumpen people, outcasts and others, as well as in a positive sense – in relation to people who creatively overcome stereotypes and established principles of activity. One can also say about such people that they are like a “black sheep”, or an outcast from society.
