Implementation in society is one of the psychological needs of man. Personality, falling out of society, is called marginal, but this does not mean that such a person is necessarily poor and leads a self-destructive way of life. Having learned who such marginals are, it is possible to find them with surprise among their acquaintances.
Who is the marginal definition
According to the sociological explanatory dictionary, a marginal person is a person who is in a state of borderline between two or more social groups, systems, and cultures. What does it mean, the marginal is an antisocial subject, but not necessarily unsuccessful, immoral or suffering from pathological attachments. It is believed that the first marginals were freed from slavery, people who left the familiar environment, but could not become full members of society immediately.
If marginals in society do not perform socially useful functions, then create a variety of problems. Marginals are able to get into groups and make riots. In European countries, this phenomenon is often a rebellion of migrants. These people, who were received in a foreign country, provided with housing and food, can bring many problems to law-abiding indigenous residents. Somewhat less harmless marginalized, as an example, you can bring representatives of national minorities, fashion movement downshifters, etc.
The status of "marginal" can be prescribed to a person by society or taken by an individual independently. "Branding" and "labeling" to non-standard people can occur in the work collective, in the hospital, in the school. Minorities - national, sexual, etc., are often subjected to such repression. This is a violation of human rights. The individual can realize his own marginality himself. In this case, he must decide - "return to normality" or live with the status of "marginal".
Who are the marginals and lumpen?
The term "lumpen" was introduced by K. Marx, he referred to this group vagabonds, beggars, bandits. In the opinion of the townsfolk, lumpens and marginals are one group of people with similar interests and a way of life. This is not quite true. Lumpen is a declassed, physically and morally descended element, a "social waste" that is part of a marginal group, but the marginal personality is not always a lumpen.
Signs of the marginals
The main feature of marginal sociologists is the break in the economic, social and spiritual ties existing in the "homegrown" life. Migrants and refugees are mostly marginalized. A former military man who has been dismissed from service but who has not yet found himself in civil society can turn up on the edge of social groups. Relations with the past were dismissed, while there are no new ones, and in particularly unfavorable conditions, there will not be any. Then a person can declassify - i.e. to sink to the very "bottom" of life.
Other signs of marginality:
- mobility - arises in the absence of housing, attachments;
- mental problems - appear due to the inability to find their "place under the sun";
- the development of their own values, sometimes hostility to the existing society;
- sufficient ease of involvement in illegal activities.
Types of marginals
With a positive development of events, the period of marginalization in a person does not last too long - by adapting, finding employment, merging into society, he loses the status of a marginal. The exception is people who have become marginalized (refugees) or those who knowingly chose this way of life (vagabonds, radicals, extremists, revolutionaries). Sociologists share the main types of marginal groups: political, ethical, religious, social, economic, and biological.
Political marginals
To understand who such a political marginal, the meaning of this term, we can recall the period of the coming to power of Fidel Castro in Cuba, accompanied by bloody repression. "The Island of Freedom" has become unbearable for the lives of about 2 million people who fled to other countries, becoming, in fact, political marginals - people who are not satisfied with the existing political regime, its laws.
Ethnic marginalities
People who are subject to ethnic marginality are usually referred to as individuals born from representatives of different nationalities. Not any interethnic marriage engenders marginals, this happens only if the child does not relate to any nationality of the parents - in this case, he is not accepted anywhere. Another answer to the question of who such ethnic marginals are national minorities, representatives of extremely small nationalities living among other nationalities.
Religious outcasts
The majority of people in society either adhere to a certain confession, or do not believe in God at all. Religious marginals call individuals who believe in the existence of a higher power, but they can not call themselves representatives of any existing religion. Among such individuals (prophets) one can meet those who gathered like-minded people and created their own church.
Social marginals
Such phenomenon as social marginalization develops in a society experiencing cataclysms: coups, revolutions, etc. Entire groups of people in a changing society lose their place and can not find it in the new system. Such social marginals often become migrants, as an example can be recalled representatives of the nobility, who left Russia after the revolution of 1917.
Marginal economic
The answer to the question of who the economic marginal is, basically comes down to unemployment and the accompanying phenomenon of poverty. Economic marginals are forced or deliberately losing the opportunity to earn and live at another's expense - receiving help from others, state benefits, alms, etc. In today's society, the economically marginalized people are also ranked as supernumeraries, who are also cut off from society.
Biomarginals
An ideal social organization means caring for those who are in a difficult situation because of health problems, so the question of who such a marginal biological should not arise. In fact, those who do not have value for society because of ill health, are completely unprotected. Biomanginals are referred to as invalids, chronically ill, elderly, HIV-infected, children with Down's syndrome , etc.
Pros and cons of marginality
Initially, the negative meaning of the term "marginal" has already changed and does not always bear a negative load. To be outside the "herd," to differ from many is fashionable and even prestigious, but the positive side of marginality can be found even in the classical meaning of this phenomenon:
- marginals are more mobile than ordinary people, it is easier for them to move to an economically more prosperous region, to find a better-paying job, to change their profession;
- due to their dissimilarity with other members of society, some marginals can build their own business on this, for example, an ethnic marginal can open a store with the goods that his people produce;
- Due to their flexibility marginals often bring something new, progressive to society.
The negative moments of marginality include the fact that this phenomenon is mainly associated with radical changes in the structure of society - reforms, revolutions. In general, society always suffers from such changes - the state is poorer, it is left by promising personalities. Another disadvantage of the marginalization of society is the decline in living standards and safety due to the lumpenization of a large number of marginalized people.
Negative marginality in the case when it is artificially created. With prolonged revolutions, wars, the number of marginalized people grows exponentially, as a result of which innocent people perish and fall "to the bottom." Examples of forced marginalization are the Holocaust of the Jewish nation, organized by fascist Germany and Stalinist repressions, as a result of which hundreds of thousands of people were exiled, displaced and deprived of work and housing.
Marginality and poverty
Since in modern society the answer to the question of who such marginals has changed greatly is far from always the consequences of marginality - poverty, deprivation of liberty or even life. Marginals, as already mentioned, can be very rich people who, due to their security, are more free than other members of society. And it is not uncommon for successful businessmen to leave their businesses and leave big cities for the province and for the villages.
In the framework of such phenomenon as marginality it is worth mentioning about not so long ago appeared downshifters. From birth, the individual develops in two opposite directions - both social and individual. Ideally, these forces should be balanced, but in reality one of these areas often outweighs. With the strengthening of socialization, a conformist is born, and with increasing individualization, a downshift can be born.
Downshifter is a person who chose life outside society or severely restricted communication with people outside his family. This is a marginal, which is completely satisfied with his being in the borderline state, when he is free to move around the world, to live completely independently. Most often, downshifters prefer to practice art - they paint, write books, etc. And their creativity is almost always in demand, tk. the author has a strong energy and non-standard thinking .