Social Exclusion and Social Inclusion: An Overview

The term social exclusion and social inclusion are two terms most widely used in recent years by politicians, social scientists and the public as well. Social exclusion and inclusion are multi-dimensionalterms and their definitions, meanings andconnotations are context-dependent.1 Socialexclusion as a concept has its origin in Europe, more specifically in France, and therefore the issuesaddressed in the social exclusion context werespecific to Europe. Subsequently, the concept wasintroduced in India where it has primarily focusedon inequalities and exploitation based onmembership of particular social groups and is seenin terms of exclusionary processes based on caste, gender, tribe, and religious identities.