Social Exclusion in Cross-National Perspective

Global processes have an increasing influence on local contexts and the nature and distribution of opportunities among populations across the globe. While capital and population mobility advances in information and communications technology and economic liberalization have fostered economic development industrialization and wealth for some they have also engendered growing inequalities in income prosperity well-being and access. Those left behind by these global transformations often experience not only material deprivation but broader dislocation from the contexts institutions and capabilities that provide access to social and economic opportunity. The concept of social exclusion has been widely adopted to describe the conditions of economic social political and/or cultural marginalization experienced by particular groups of people due to extreme poverty discrimination dislocation and disenfranchisement. <p/>This book explores the dynamics of social exclusion within the context of globalization across four countries--China India South Korea and the United States. In particular it examines how social exclusion is defined manifested and responded to with regard to diverse social arenas and processes varying mechanisms and scales and a range of impacted populations. Based on collaborative research activities and in-depth deliberation among leading scholars from major academic institutions in each of the four aforementioned countries the volume provides a rich account of the interplay between globalization and social exclusion while highlighting the ways in which responses may be more or less effective in different contexts. Its insights will be of particular interest to academics researchers and students across diverse social science disciplines.<br>