Marginal - who is it, the difference from the lumpen, the pros and cons of marginality

Marginality

(Late Latin marginalis - located on the edge) - a sociological concept denoting the intermediate, “borderline” position of a person between any social groups, which leaves a certain imprint on his psyche. This concept appeared in American sociology in the 1920s to refer to the situation of immigrants’ failure to adapt to new social conditions.

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.

Who is the marginalized?

Socialization is one of the most important needs of a person who lives in society from birth and develops in accordance with its requirements. A marginal personality is an individual who, for some reason, has fallen out of his social circle, but this does not mean that the person has begun to sink to the bottom of society. What does “marginal” mean? From the Latin word “margo” means “border”, “edge”, “edge”. A person can cross this border in any direction, but at the same time he becomes a stranger in the new environment. A marginal is someone who:

• rejects norms, rules, traditions accepted by society;
• does not feel a sense of duty towards society;
• feels the need to be alone, avoids people.

The term “marginal” began to circulate at the beginning of the 20th century in America; it denoted emigrants who were poorly socialized in their new society. This inability to fully adapt was called marginalization. Many people are interested in why marginalized people are dangerous to society. A marginalized society (with a high level of marginalization) is in danger of collapse, unrest, spiritual and physical degeneration. Outcast people can easily fall into the category of declassed elements and join societies with various radical ideas (terrorism, revolution).

Many psychologists and philosophers believe that a marginal personality type is neither good nor bad. For example, researcher I.V. Malyshev believes that those who are marginal today may find themselves at the pinnacle of power tomorrow, as society changes and those who were among the elite may find themselves on the sidelines. As an example, we can recall many representatives of the ruling party in the USSR - many of them found themselves out of work with the change of power, party organizers, teachers of communist history, and so on were abolished

sociol. dz3

It seems interesting that V. Radaev attempted to stratify societies, historical and modern, using the typology of stratification systems. Any society can be represented, according to the researcher, as a combination of several stratification systems, distinguished by the characteristics of factors differentiating society, various mechanisms of social inequality and its reproduction. Below are 9 such systems, identified by the nature of stratification and inequality, although there may be more. Main features of stratification systems

Type of system -> Basis of differentiation -> Method of determining social differences -> Mechanism of status transfer

Physico-genetic

-> Gender, age, physical characteristics -> Physical coercion, custom -> Biological inheritance
Slave
-> Citizenship and property rights -> Military coercion, bondage, sale into slavery -> Social inheritance
Caste
-> Religious and ethnic division of labor -> Religious ritual, ethnic isolation -> Social inheritance
Class
-> Responsibilities to the state to perform important functions Legal registration -> Social inheritance
Etacratic
-> Ranks in the power hierarchy (political, military, economic) -> Military-political domination -> Not inherited.
Protectionism is possible Socio-professional
-> Occupation, qualifications -> Educational certificates, corporate morality -> Not inherited
Class
-> Amount of income and property -> Market exchange -> Not inherited.
It is possible to use the institution of primogeniture Cultural-symbolic
-> Sacred knowledge, access to information -> Religious, scientific, ideological manipulation -> Not inherited
Cultural-normative
-> Norms of behavior, style and lifestyle -> Moral regulation, imitation, ideological control -> Not inherited These systems have a broad basis in historical development, although they do not always coincide with the corresponding types of social structure. They persist in any society, and the set of factors representing them is different in each specific case. Society, according to V. Radaev, can be described as a certain configuration, constellation (“constellation”) of systems. The high or low status of groups in one system may be reinforced by the same status in another. The status of the rich (class) is reinforced by a special lifestyle (cultural-normative status), possession of information (symbolic capital), professional success (qualification status) or simply good physical data (status of “cool”, “sports star”), etc. To a greater or lesser extent, such systems are also represented in the stratification picture of post-Soviet Russia, where historically the priority of status in the ethacratic system was inherited, only followed by economic, cultural, etc. statuses. The problem of sociology is how to adequately describe them.

Russia has experienced at least two major waves of marginalization. The first came after the revolution of 1917. Two classes were forcibly knocked out of the social structure - the nobility and the bourgeoisie, which were part of the elite of society. A new proletarian elite began to form from the lower classes. Workers and peasants became Red directors and ministers overnight. Bypassing the usual trajectory of social ascent through the middle class for a stable society, they skipped one step and would not get there in the future.

Essentially, they turned out to be what can be called rising marginals. They broke away from one class, but did not become full-fledged representatives of the new upper class, as is required in a civilized society. The proletarians retained their former behavior patterns, values, language, and cultural customs characteristic of the lower classes of society, although they sincerely tried to join the artistic values ​​of high culture, learned to read and write, went on cultural trips, visited theaters and propaganda studios.

The path “from rags to riches” continued until the early 70s, when Soviet sociologists first established that all classes and strata of our society are now being reproduced on their own basis, i.e. only at the expense of representatives of their class. This lasted only two decades, which can be considered a period of stabilization of Soviet society and the absence of mass marginalization.

The second wave occurred in the early 90s and also as a result of qualitative changes in the social structure of Russian society.

The return movement of society from socialism to capitalism led to radical changes in the social structure. The elite of society was formed by three additions: criminals, nomenklatura and “raznochintsy”. A certain part of the elite was replenished from representatives of the lower class: shaven-headed servants of the Russian mafiosi, numerous racketeers and organized criminals were often former members of the petty class and dropouts. The era of primitive accumulation, the early phase of capitalism, gave rise to unrest in all strata of society. The path to enrichment during this period, as a rule, lies outside the legal space. Among the first, those who did not have a high education or high morality, but who fully personified “wild capitalism,” began to get rich.

The elite included, in addition to representatives of the lower classes, “commoners”, i.e. people from different groups of the Soviet middle class and intelligentsia, as well as the nomenklatura, which at the right time found itself in the right place, namely at the levers of power, when it was necessary to divide the national property. On the contrary, the predominant part of the middle class has undergone downward mobility and joined the ranks of the poor. Unlike the old poor that exist in any society, this part is called the “new poor”. They influence a specific feature of Russia. This category of poor does not exist either in Brazil, or in the USA, or in any other country in the world. The first distinguishing feature is a high level of education. Teachers, lecturers, engineers, doctors and other categories of public sector employees were among the poor only by economic criterion - income. But they are not so according to other, more important criteria related to education, culture and standard of living. Unlike the old, chronic poor, the “new poor” are a temporary category. With any change in the economic situation in the country for the better, they are ready to immediately return to the middle class. And they try to give their children a higher education, to instill the values ​​of the elite of society, and not the “social bottom”

Marginalized

Marginal

(from the French marginal, Latin margo - edge, border) - 1) this is a person related to two different social groups, without completely belonging to either of them; 2) a person who, due to his position, finds himself outside a certain social stratum or group.

Examples of marginality:

1) a person who recently moved to live in the city from the village; 2) a city dweller working in the village after graduation; 3) a representative of an Asian country who came to work in a European state.

Types of marginals:

1) ethnomarginals - arise as a result of migration to a foreign ethnic environment;

2) sociomarginals - appear in connection with the incompleteness of social movement;

3) economic marginals - generated by the loss of work and material well-being;

4) political marginals - arise as a result of the loss of generally accepted norms and values ​​of political culture;

5) religious marginals - persons outside traditional confessions;

6) biomarginals - people whose health ceases to be a matter of concern on the part of the state.

negative aspects of marginality:

Marginalized people experience great psychological stress and experience a kind of crisis of self-awareness associated with the loss of social identity. They may exhibit such traits as increased anxiety, excitability, aggressiveness, a desire to circumvent the law, etc.

Positive aspects of marginality:

1) the absence of strictly defined norms and connections contributes to an increase in the social activity of the individual;

2) marginalized people are more receptive to cultural and social innovations;

3) marginalized people adapt more easily to constantly changing living conditions.

4) marginalized people play an extremely important role in the formation of new social communities (religious, professional, etc.).

Positive and negative sides of marginality. Marginality is usually associated with painful psychological experiences. It can be seen as a negative phenomenon. And indeed, being outside of society is far from the most pleasant thing in life. This situation is dangerous, because a person may begin to feel superfluous, unnecessary. On the other hand, it is precisely this situation that can become an impetus that will force a person to make efforts and either adapt to society, restore his position in it, or change the social structure. Marginalized people play an extremely important role in the formation of new social communities (religious, professional, etc.). There is a close connection between the emergence of large masses of people, who for some reason found themselves outside the usual way of life, and the emergence of new social formations, which has been repeatedly noted by sociologists.

Signs of marginalized people

Marginal behavior can be inherent in any person in certain life circumstances. You can determine whether a person is marginalized or not by certain criteria:

• social status is not defined;
• unstable state of mind and health in general, aggressiveness may be observed;
• uncertainty of tomorrow, there may be no place of residence or work;
• sharp turns happen in life with severance of ties - spiritual, financial, social;
• according to some characteristics (profession, hobbies, appearance features, and so on), a person joins small groups;
• They have their own values, norms, and rules, which often do not coincide with the generally accepted ones.

Types of marginalized people

The classification identifies types of marginality depending on what factors influenced the person. Types of marginals:

• social
  - a person tried to climb the social ladder, but was “stuck” in the middle - neither the new nor the old circles accepted him, and sometimes, due to too high ambitions, a person falls down the social ladder;
• financial
  – it is caused by job loss, decreased income due to the economic crisis, long-term treatment, loss of property as a result of fraud, theft, fire, or natural disaster;
• political
  – they become marginalized due to a change in the political regime, a political crisis, changes in state and social norms and foundations;
• ethnic
  - appears as a result of a change of place of residence, the stronger the differences in appearance, mentality, foundations, habits, way of life, the more rejected a person will be, the factor of forced relocation is also important - if a person moved of his own free will, he adapts more easily to society, refugee - worse;
• religious
  - they become such a marginalized person if a person enters society with different religious ideas; agnostics or atheists often become outcasts in the religious community;
• sexual
  – a person with a sexual orientation different from the majority;
• biomarginals
  are people with a disability or a serious illness - AIDS, Down syndrome, severe chronic illness, etc.

Individual and group

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.

Marginality – pros and cons

Any social phenomenon, including marginality, has its positive and negative sides. The pros and cons of marginality can be found in almost any factor leading to the appearance of an outcast, and besides, in modern society it is even fashionable to be special, not like everyone else. In some cases, isolation from society gives a person an impetus for development, in others - the individual gives up and he goes down the social ladder. Rich people can also be marginalized, and often they even like this state of affairs and isolation.

The advantages of marginalized people

One of the positive aspects that marginality gives is the absence of social shackles and mobility. It is easier for such a person to move to an economically more prosperous area or to another country, to change jobs or professions. In some cases, being different from other members of society plays into the hands of the marginalized - he can build a business on this, for example, opening an ethnic goods store or a restaurant serving his own national cuisine. Another advantage of the marginalized is that they have flexible thinking and can bring something progressive to society, different from the traditional one.

Disadvantages of marginality

The negative aspects of marginality include a high risk of the emergence of revolutionary movements, reforms and other similar phenomena in society. A large number of marginalized people in society impoverish the state - gifted individuals leave it in search of better things, less promising individuals slide to the bottom. A marginalized person can easily become a criminal, which affects the safety of people in society. Negative marginality often becomes under conditions of compulsion - when people become refugees as a result of wars, coups d'etat and reforms.

Marginality and poverty

Since in modern society the answer to the question of who the marginalized are has changed greatly, the consequences of marginality are not always poverty, deprivation of liberty or even life. Marginal people, as already mentioned, can also be very rich people who, due to their wealth, are freer than other members of society. And there are often cases when successful businessmen retire and leave big cities for the provinces and villages.

Within the framework of such a phenomenon as marginality, it is worth mentioning the recently appeared downshifters. From birth, an individual develops in two opposite directions - as a social person and as an individual person. Ideally, these forces should be balanced, but in reality, one of these directions often outweighs. With increased socialization, a conformist is born, and with increased individualization, a downshifter can be born.

A downshifter is a person who has chosen to live outside of society or has severely limited communication with people outside his family. This is a marginalized person who is quite satisfied with being in a borderline state, when he is free to move around the world and live completely independently. Most often, downshifters prefer to engage in art - drawing, writing books, etc. And their creativity is almost always in demand, because... The author has strong energy and innovative thinking.

Examples of marginality

In modern society, a marginalized person is not at all uncommon. In recent years, communication via the Internet has become extremely common, where a person can try on any guise and remain unrecognized, but in life such an individual can be a marginalized person - a loner, not accepted into the local community. Such people even prefer to work remotely - they become freelancers and work via the Internet. Marginal - who is it, examples:

• dissident;
• representative of an informal movement;
• downshifter;
• a very rich or very poor person;
• a person who married a representative of a different social class, race, religion;
• a person who has recently left prison;
• representative of an interethnic marriage not accepted by both parties;
• a migrant who does not know the language of the country (for example, residents of the Russian district of Brighton Beach and Chinese China Town).

Literature

in Russian

• Malyshev I.V. Marginal // Marginal art. - M.: Moscow State University Publishing House, 1999. P. 62-63.
• Oganov A. A. The phenomenon of marginality in culture // Marginal art. - M.: Moscow State University Publishing House, 1999. P. 64-65.

in other languages

• Young IM (English)Russian Fünf Formen der Unterdrückung.
  // :
  Philosophie der Gerechtigkeit.
  Texte von der Antike bis zur Gegenwart. / Christoph Horn (German) Russian, Nico Scarano (Hrsg.). Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt, 2002. S. 428-445. ISBN 3-518-29163-7,

How to become marginalized?

Leading a marginal lifestyle does not mean that you have to be a scum of society. Anyone can become marginalized if they break ties with family, friends, colleagues, etc. This can happen both at the request of the person himself and against his desire - this is how, during the years of repression, those who dared to risk their freedom and speak out against the authorities instantly became marginalized. Sociologist Robert Park named the character and personality traits often inherent in marginalized people:

• restlessness;
• aggressiveness;
• touchiness;
• ambition;
• selfishness;
• categoricalness in judgments;
• ambition;
• negativism;
• anxiety;
• phobias.

Zoning of social decline and marginality

The concentration of marginalized sections of society in individual states and regions was uneven. In the 20th century, a logical pattern could be traced: an increased number of marginal representatives were concentrated in the most “restless” and revolutionary-minded areas of the state.

For example, the population of the province of Quebec in Canada was the most socially vulnerable compared to other citizens of the state. It was here that in the 80s the demands for granting the province autonomy status intensified.

A similar situation was repeated in Wales, where with the decline of the coal mining industry in the early 90s, the number of unemployed increased. In the mid-70s, internal contradictions worsened in Italy; the poor of the agricultural South could not come to terms with a prosperous life in the northern industrial part of the country.

Realization in society is one of the psychological needs of a person. A person who falls out of society is called marginal, but this does not mean that such a person is necessarily poor and leads a self-destructive lifestyle. Once you find out who the marginalized are, you may be surprised to find them among your friends.

Known misfits

There are a lot of such people in the history of mankind; we propose to dwell on some of the most prominent representatives of the marginalized.

1. Jesus Christ is considered one of the most famous outcasts - he did not fit into his society and contributed to the destruction of its norms (he taught, drove merchants out of the temple, communicated with elements rejected by society, and so on).
2. Another famous example is Leo Tolstoy, who preferred life in the village and interpreted many Christian concepts in his own way, for which church ministers treated him negatively.
3. The well-known marginal elite are the exiled Decembrists, and the wives of some of them became marginalized by their own free will, following their spouses.

Causes and forms of emergence of social outsiders

After the end of the Second World War, the number of representatives of marginalized sections of society increased significantly - the moral stress associated with the death of loved ones, the destruction of habitual life principles, and the loss of moral ideals led to the fact that some people did not find the strength to join the new pace of post-war life.

In most capitalist countries, such people were provided with social protection, the state actually took them into dependence. The situation changed in the early 70s, when Europe was shrouded in economic and political crises. It was from this period that the problem of marginalized sections of society acquired maximum severity, which still exists today.

The ranks of marginalized layers of society also swelled as a result of scientific and technological progress in the second half of the twentieth century. The introduction of new technologies into the industrial complex required appropriately trained specialists.

Many workers who were accustomed to working near the machine could not withstand the competition of the new educated generation. Many blue-collar professions have become unpopular due to the computerization of all areas of the economy, and their owners have not been able to adapt to the new economic reality.

In the modern world, there is a tendency to “rejuvenate” marginalized sections of society: universities, which massively provide young people with higher education, do not always support it by providing jobs. The social life of the younger generation often ends when they receive their diploma.

Even in economically developed countries, in the second half of the 20th century, the unemployment rate among young professionals reached 10%; today their number has doubled.

The marginalized segments of society include people who have diseases that do not allow them to work fully, physical and mental disabilities, as well as alcohol and drug addictions. Representatives of marginalized sections of society in the 20th century were a hotbed of crime.

This was especially evident during mass strikes and demonstrations, when marginalized people, taking advantage of the chaos in the country, were actively engaged in looting and vandalism.

Books about marginalized people

One example of literature about marginalized people is Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel “Crime and Punishment,” whose main character, Rodion Raskolnikov, belongs to the category of asocial marginalized people. The marginalized include:

• Ostap Bender from the work of Ilf and Petrov “The Twelve Chairs”;
• Lev Myshkin from Dostoevsky's The Idiot;
• Tyler Durden from Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club;
• Robert Ross from the novel “Shadows in Paradise” by Erich Maria Remarque.

Films about marginalized people

Films with marginalized heroes are often made - these are films about criminals, loners, misunderstood and often brilliant people. To get to know such individuals better, you can watch marginal films:

• "Natural Born Killers";
• TV series "House"
• "The Picture of Dorian Grey";
• "Samurai";
• "Taxi driver";
• "Three colors: Blue";
• "Leaving Las Vegas";
• "Fight club";
• "Outcast";
• "Driver";
• "She";
• "In the wild."