What is marginality?
Marginality (from the Latin word marginalis - located on the edge) is a term in sociology that denotes the intermediate position of a person between certain social groups.
This term appeared in the 1920s, arose thanks to the scientific works of sociologist R. Park from the USA. Marginal people were considered to be people who were outside the social and cultural context due to the loss of connection with the normal environment and society. In those days, they included villagers who came to the city, emigrants. Subsequently, the category of “marginality” acquired a broader meaning—asocial people who did not recognize social conditions and lived by their own rules began to be called marginal.
As a rule, marginalized individuals are highly susceptible to psychological crises, loneliness, fear about their future, and are subject to aggression from other people. Such people usually belong to certain social groups that are temporary and situational in nature.
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This page was last edited on 11 February 2021 at 04:31. InterpretationTranslationMarginalityb>Marginal, marginal person
(from Latin
margo
- edge) - a person who is on the border of various social groups, systems, cultures and is influenced by their contradictory norms, values, etc.
A marginal group of people is a group that rejects certain values and traditions of the culture in which it arises and asserts its own system of norms and values.
Examples of marginality
The most common example of marginality is migrants who came in search of a better life. They do not know the language of the country, belong to a different cultural environment, and cannot be fully included in the modern semantic space. One of the most numerous groups of such marginalized people are migrants from the former USSR. They come to get money, lead an unstable lifestyle, choose random work, which can be criminal.
In many cases, the term “marginality” has negative associations, since the lower social strata or even criminal groups are considered marginal. However, such a definition cannot be called correct. Successful people who do not belong to specific social groups can also be marginalized. An example is Leo Tolstoy, who rejected the established values of his time.
In addition, refugees often become marginalized, and sometimes, for example, former military personnel who, after being discharged, have not yet had time to adapt to society. Often, after a break with a past life and lack of contact with a new one, a person is able to sink to the “bottom” of life.
Consequences
Marginalization does not always lead to “settling to the bottom.” Natural marginalization is associated primarily with horizontal or upward vertical mobility. If marginalization is associated with a radical change in the social structure (revolution, reform), partial or complete destruction of stable communities, then it often leads to a massive decline in social status.
However, marginal elements (more precisely, the most ambitious of them) are making attempts to reintegrate into the social system. This can lead to mass riots and murders (coups and revolutions, uprisings and wars) or to the formation of new social groups fighting with other groups for a place in social space[2]. Thus, there are attempts to explain the flourishing of ethnic entrepreneurship precisely by the marginal position of ethnic minorities, for whom the usual ways of achieving high status (through inheritance, government and military service, etc.) are difficult and who, in the development of entrepreneurship (including criminal ones), find themselves effective channels of vertical mobility.
Reasons for marginality
The process of marginalization can be forced and deliberate. A person is able, in a certain form, to stop connecting himself with the cultural and social environment, to break spiritual, social and economic ties.
The main reasons for marginality include:
- forced relocation, loss of normal environment, difficulties in getting used to other conditions, environment, new language, culture;
- loss of property, property, source of income;
- change in the political regime in the country;
- the formation of a new way of life, other habits, changing the existing worldview;
- choosing a new religion;
- loss of ability to work, disability.
Types of marginality
There are several types of marginals. Their classification is quite simple. It is based on the reasons for the development of this particular way of life. The following types of marginality can be distinguished:
- Economic. It implies that people, for specific reasons, lose their jobs, the opportunity to earn an income, and their own housing. This type also includes very rich people who, due to their high income, completely lose connections with work colleagues, friends, and relatives. As a result, the economic type of marginality is usually classified as oligarchs and beggars.
- Ethnic. This type of marginality is associated with a change of place of residence, as a result of which a person has to live in the same society with representatives of other races, cultures, and nationalities. It is not possible to adapt to a foreign religion, language, culture, or traditions in every case. Representatives of ethnic marginality can be called emigrants.
- Criminal. We are talking about a situation when a person ceases to comply with the moral norms and laws established in society. This leads to him committing crimes and violating existing legal provisions.
- Social. It implies a change in economic systems, which negatively affects the process of people’s adaptation to new living conditions.
- Political. We are talking about rapid changes in the country's political regime, revolutions, turning points in historical events at the level of the state and the whole world.
- Age. Implies conflict between the older and younger generations.
- Biological. It implies difficulties in social adaptation of people who are ill and have limited mental abilities. Individuals who suffer from Down syndrome, HIV-infected people and others become outcasts.
The concept of marginality. Marginalized layers and groups of the population
Marginality is a sociological concept that denotes the intermediate, “borderline” position of a person between any social groups and statuses, which leaves a certain imprint on his psyche.
A marginal group of people is a group that rejects certain values and traditions of the culture in which this group is located and asserts its own system of norms and values.
[edit]Individual and group marginality
Individual marginality is characterized by the individual's incomplete inclusion in a group that does not fully accept him, and his alienation from the group of origin that rejects him as an apostate. The individual turns out to be a “cultural hybrid”, sharing the life and traditions of two or more different groups.
Group marginality arises as a result of changes in the social structure of society, the formation of new functional groups in economics and politics, displacing old groups, destabilizing their social position.
51. Theory of social mobility. Types of social mobility. Migration.
| Social mobility is a change by individuals or groups in their position, place, social status in the structure of society. introduced by P.A. Sorokin, who considered social mobility not simply as the transition of one social group to another, but as any change in social status. social mobility is divided into two types: Vertical mobility involves moving from one stratum to another. Depending on the direction of movement, there is upward mobility (social ascent) and downward mobility (downward movement). Horizontal mobility implies the transition of an individual from one stratum to another, located at the same level (from the Orthodox to the Catholic religious group). Such movements occur without a noticeable change in social position in the upright position. Social mobility is measured by the following indicators: - mobility distance (the number of steps or levels to which social objects managed to rise or fall); - volume of mobility (the number of objects that moved vertically along the social ladder over a certain period of time). The degree of social mobility is an indicator of the level of development of society: the higher this level, the more social levels and positions society presents to social objects for their movements. + next question!!! Labor migration is the movement of the working-age population. The main criteria for classifying migrations are: · direction of migration; · degree of organization of migrations; · temporary sign; · reasons for migration. Based on the direction of migration flows, migration is divided into two types: a) external; b) internal. External migration is the departure of the population abroad (emigration) or entry from abroad into a given state (immigration). Internal migration combines migration processes within the country. From the point of view of administrative division, migrations are divided into intra-regional, inter-regional and inter-district. Depending on the purpose and status of settlements, flows are distinguished: village-city, village-village, city-city, city-village. Based on the degree of organization, two types of migration are distinguished: organized and unorganized. The main types of organized migration are: public conscription, agricultural relocations, organized recruitment of labor, service transfers to other areas, distribution of graduates of vocational schools, technical schools and universities. Unorganized, or individual, migration is territorial movements of the population caused by reasons such as the desire to improve one’s financial situation in a new place, start a family, get an education, etc. When classifying the migration movement by reasons, one should highlight economic, social, cultural, political, ethnic (national), religious, racial, military, demographic (family unification, marriage migration), etc. Based on the time of movement, all types of population migrations are divided into: irrevocable, forever, and temporary migration. 52. Social mobility and type of society. The mechanism of social infiltration. There are two main types of social mobility - intergenerational and intragenerational, and its two main types - vertical and horizontal. They, in turn, fall into subspecies and subtypes , which are closely related to each other. Intergenerational mobility involves children achieving a higher social position or falling to a lower level than their parents. Intragenerational mobility occurs where the same individual, unlike his father, changes social positions several times throughout his life. Otherwise, such mobility is called a social career . The first type of mobility refers to long-term, and the second - to short-term processes. In the first case, sociologists are more interested in interclass mobility, and in the second, in the movement from the sphere of physical labor to the sphere of mental labor. The mechanism of infiltration in vertical mobility. In order to understand how the process of ascension occurs, it is important to study how an individual can overcome barriers and boundaries between groups and rise upward, i.e. improve your social, professional, economic and political status. This desire to achieve a higher status is due to the achievement motive, which every individual has to one degree or another and is associated with his need to achieve success and avoid failure in the social aspect. The actualization of this motive ultimately gives rise to the force with which the individual strives to achieve a higher social position or to maintain his current position and not slide down. The realization of the power of achievement depends on many factors. Scheme of infiltration of an individual into a layer with a higher status of the situation developing in society. Typology of society Marx identified 5 types of society: primitive communal, slaveholding, feudal, capitalist, communist (or socialist). According to the Marxist tradition, the type of society is determined by the method of production, i.e. how the econometrics are used and controlled. resources. Classification of societies can also be made on the basis of their dominant religion (for example, Muslim society) or language (for example, French-speaking society). There is a classification according to the method of obtaining a livelihood: a society of hunters and gatherers, horticultural, agricultural and industrial (G. Lenski, J. Lenski). Tennis classifies societies into traditional (implying a peasant community) and industrial (industrial-urban society). 53. concept of social change. Types of Social Change Social change is the transformation that occurs over time in an organization, the structure of society, patterns of thinking, culture and social behavior. This is the transition of a social object from one state to another, a significant transformation of social institutions, the plurality and diversity of social forms. Types: 1. by assessment of changes (progress, regression) 2. by time (short-term, medium-term, long-term) 3. by level (individual, group, public, etc.) Forms of social. Changes 1. functional – are adaptive in nature, helping to adapt to changes in the natural and social environment and the internal needs of the social system. 2. social modernization – progressive social changes as a result of which the social system improves the parameters of its functioning. 3. transformation - transformations in society as a result of a certain social change, both purposeful and chaotic 4. social crisis - a transitional state of a social system that involves radical changes to solve emerging problems. 54. social processes. Concept, types of Social processes Social process is a consistent change of states, stages of development of social systems and phenomena; a set of sequential actions to achieve some result. Classification of social processes Directed - irreversible social processes, in which each subsequent stage differs from the previous one and includes its result, and an earlier stage prepares the conditions for a later one. Undirected - changes that are either purely random, chaotic in nature, not based on any pattern, or are subject to certain repeating or at least convergent patterns, with each subsequent stage being identical or qualitatively reminiscent of previous types. Reversible – processes that lead the system to change, but then the system returns to its previous state. Irreversible Linear - gradual continuous upward or downward changes in the system Stepwise - gradual increase in the quantitative potential of changes that at a certain moment lead to a qualitative leap or breakthrough Cyclic - periodic repetition of certain phases of the development of the system Spiral - upward or downward cyclical movements Cultural processes Acculturation - processes of mutual influence cultures, the perception by one people, in whole or in part, of the culture of another people, usually more developed. Assimilation is the loss of one part of society (or an entire ethnic group) of its distinctive features and its replacement with those borrowed from another part (another ethnic group). In general, this is an ethnocultural shift in the self-awareness of a certain social group, which previously represented a different community in terms of language, religion or culture. Amalgamation is the biological mixing of two or more ethnic groups or peoples, after which they become one group or people. Elements of the social process 1. subject 2. object 3. social environment 4. result 55. reforms and revolutions. Distinctive features of a revolution are sharp and profound changes in all social life, as a result of which society moves from one qualitative state to another; a set of a large number or complex of reforms carried out simultaneously with the aim of changing the foundations of the social system Signs: 1. gross violence 2. loss of life 3. mass disasters of the population 4. lawlessness 5. unrest in society Reform - changes that do not lead to mass violence, rapid change of political elites, rapid and radical changes in social structure and value orientations. Reforms involve a gradual transformation of certain social institutions or spheres of life. In addition to revolutionary experiments, there are other ways to improve and reconstruct social organization. These fundamental canons are: 1. Reforms should not violate human nature and contradict its basic instincts. The Russian revolutionary experiment, as well as many other revolutions, give us examples of the opposite. 2. A thorough scientific study of specific social conditions must precede any practical implementation of their reform. Most revolutionary reconstructions did not follow this rule. 3. Every reconstructive experiment should first be tested on a small social scale. And only if it demonstrates positive results, the scale of reforms can be increased. The revolution ignores this canon. 4. Reforms must be implemented through legal and constitutional means. Revolutions despise these restrictions. |
Marginality in the modern world
The concept of “marginal” from the very beginning had a negative context, but in the modern world it can also have a positive connotation. Now it is even considered prestigious to stand out among others.
Marginalized people have higher social mobility than ordinary people. Moving to a more economically prosperous area, finding a job that brings more income, changing professions is not a problem for them;
In addition, the lack of similarity with other members of society helps such people create a certain business. The reason is that marginalized people often do not have permanent employment, which means they are open to new ideas and initiatives.
