Globalization and Exclusion

In Chapters 1 to 6 we discussed the economic and social issues largely in a national context, even though the framework in Chapter 2 explicitly recognized the importance of the global dimension. The causes of exclusion are a complex interaction of both internal and external factors. The purpose of this chapter is to extend our analysis to the external factors and the global dimension of exclusion. The two main global phenomena in the twenty-first century are (i) the emergence of a global economy involving increasing interdependence between countries of the North and South and (ii) an acceleration of the process of democratization in most developing societies briefly discussed in Chapter 6. Both these phenomena have implications for the analytical as well as normative aspects of the concept of exclusion discussed in the earlier chapters. While globalization may alleviate poverty and exclusion in some societies which are equipped to benefit from it, it may accentuate marginalization and exclusion in others, as is increasingly demonstrated by a growing anti-globalization movement and a softening of the protagonists‘ stance. Does globalization generate exclusion and social disintegration and thereby threaten social cohesion and sustainable growth? This question is addressed below in the context of both industrialized and developing countries.