POLICY IMPLICATIONS OF EXCLUSION AND RESILIENCE

Resilience is a desirable capability of people to deal with shocks with-out significant loss of livelihood, health, and nutrition. Resilience is impaired by exclusion and other forms of discrimination. Exclusion is part of a larger set of causal factors that determine marginality, which is a root cause of poverty and inequality. It is a global phenomenon, not just one of developing countries, and is fundamentally a human rights issue. Overcoming exclusion involves a complex political agenda with legal, cul-tural, social, economic, technological, and governance dimensions. Social psychology and behavioral issues need to be considered as well. The pur-pose of this chapter is to assess the relationships between exclusion and resil-ience, and to identify opportunities for overcoming exclusion and thereby strengthening the resilience of the poor. To address these complex issues in a brief chapter cannot do much more than raise key issues and suggest broad sets of policy actions. A few examples will illustrate symptoms, causes, and points of entry for action. Linkages between Exclusion and Resilience Because the concepts of exclusion and resilience are multifaceted, definitional clarity is in order. Exclusion: The invention of the term social exclusion is attributed to René Lenoir (1974), who defined it as a rupture of social bonds. Amartya Sen (2000) introduced social exclusion to recent development thinking, defining it as a relational deprivation of individuals, groups, and commu-nities of people from rights and from participation in and access to oppor-tunities, resources, and activities that are normally available to members of society (de Haan 1999). People are often excluded in different spheres at the same time, for instance in economic, social, nutritional, educa-tional, and political spheres (Figure 16.1). Sen made a distinction betwee