On the theoretical and empiriacal problems of the social exclusion concept. A 'functional-structural' view

The success of the idea of social exclusion in the domain of social analysis and social policy has no direct correspondence, but rather inverse, with its conceptual clarity and empirical determination.  Its usual connection with stratification and/or with poverty has much to do with this problem, since it hinders a proper empirical approximation to the main features of this social phenomenon, i.e., its muldimensional, cumulative and sequentially loss of social inclusión.

The aim of this paper is twofold: first, it aims to provide a theoretical clarification of social exclusion from a heterodox "functional-structural" point of view; and, second, from this startpoint, to propose an operational definition and a selection of indicators, in order to facilitate an empirical approach more adapted to the aforementioned features of this social phenomenon.