Exklusion und räumliche Differenzierung

Abstract

Up to now, poverty and spatial exclusion have primarily been described as the unequal distribution of disposable income and employment in relation to a given population. In this situation, the emergence of the term "exclusion" indicates an increase in the scape of the problem. Exclusion always refers to a cumulative process of personal detachment from a large number of heterogeneous, but essential functional spheres of society. This paper reconstructs this change in perspectives by comparing established approaches of contemporary poverty and inequality research. It becomes evident that the Social Systems Theory offers optimal links to avoid too narrow a focus on economic issues. With reference to the fundamental fact of functional differentiation, it is possible to specify the relation between exclusion and spatial differentiation. One finding is that the structure of modern society is - even in respect to exclusion - moving a way from spatial patterns. Today, exclusion occurs as a strictly local or regional phenomenon all over the world, above all characterized by the lack of organizational communication.