The literature highlights the negative impacts of exclusive institutions in relation to:
- Poverty: Exclusive institutions not only perpetuate economic disadvantage, they also impact negatively on the non-economic dimensions of poverty. This includes lack of access to services, lack of voice in decision-making, and vulnerability to violence and corruption (Sen, 1992; Jolly et al., 2012: 36).
- Different socio-economic groups: Exclusive institutions do not only affect poor people. They can, for example, affect wealthy homosexual men in some societies. Supporting social inclusion therefore requires measures beyond increasing income (World Bank, 2013a: 4).
- Intensifying disadvantage: Exclusive institutions in one sphere can multiply disadvantage in others. The combination of gender, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation and place of residence has a greater impact on whether a person lives in poverty and is marginalised from enjoying resources and services than a single dimension of disadvantage (World Bank, 2013a: 6-7). For example, in India, a woman who is a Dalit, has disabilities and lives in a remote area will experience greater exclusion than a woman who is none of these.
Resources on the outcomes of inclusive and exclusive institutions
- The World Bank’s first evidence-based study on social inclusion – Inclusion Matters (World Bank, 2013a) – provides a framework for understanding social inclusion.
- The GSDRC Topic Guide on Social Exclusion (Khan, 2012a) provides an overview of the literature on social exclusion and adverse incorporation.
- DFID’s Policy Paper on Social Exclusion (DFID, 2005) sets out who is excluded and how, and what public policy, civil society and donors can do to help reduce social exclusion.
- DFID (2005). Reducing poverty by tackling social exclusion. A DFID Policy Paper. London: Department for International Development. See document online
- Jolly R., Giovanni, A.C., Elson, D., Fortin, C., Griffith-Jones, S., Helleiner, G., van der Hoeven, R., Kaplinsky, R., Morgan, R. (2012). Be outraged. There are alternatives. Richard Jolly. See document online
- Khan, S. (2012a). Topic guide on social exclusion. Updated 2012. Birmingham: GSDRC, University of Birmingham. See document online
- Sen, A. (1992). Inequality reexamined. Oxford: Oxford University Press. See document online
- World Bank (2013a). Inclusion matters: The foundation for shared prosperity. Washington D.C.: World Bank. See document online