Gore, Charles; Figueiredo, Jose B.; Rodgers, Gerry
Abstract
The term social exclusion, which originally was coined in France to refer to those excluded from social insurance programs, is now used as an important analytical concept in understanding the interconnected social, cultural, political and economic processes that can lead to poverty. In an era of rapid globalization, the term takes on added importance as we seek to understand the impact of rapid economic change on the most vulnerable members of society, particularly in developing and transitional economies. In this introduction to a book prepared by the UNDP and the ILO for the 1995 World Summit for Social Development, the author draws on the book’s wide range of case studies — on Mexico, Peru, Cameroon, Tanzania, Tunisia, Yemen, India, Thailand, Russia, and Kazakhstan — to assess the value and policy implications of the concept of social exclusion in broadening and deepening our understanding of the impact of globalization on the development process.