The word marginalized became fashionable 15-20 years ago. Almost everyone loves to use it: from abstruse and glamorous intellectuals to almost grandmothers on benches. Anyone who somehow does not fit into the usual framework can hear addressed to them: “He’s just marginal!”

Moreover, in the overwhelming majority of cases, the attitude towards this person will be strictly negative. And this is understandable, considering that the very meaning of this word is known to only a few.

In Russia, the concept of marginal is constantly confused with the concept of lumpen, that is, a declassed element, a tramp, an alcoholic drug addict, a homeless person, a criminal. The one who is beyond the boundaries of society, outside its coordinate system. There is zero benefit from it to society, but it will not cause any harm.

But if we look at the phenomenon of marginality in more detail, we find out that the marginalized, of course, are outside the system (Latin marginalis - edge, border, side), but they have their own set of values, which they religiously adhere to.

They have a strong reluctance to adhere generally accepted norms which they consider inappropriate for themselves. Unlike the marginalized, the lumpen are ready to obey strong leader who has power, and accept the values ​​of that leader.

A marginal is a person who is outside the boundaries of both the generally accepted system and the “systemic opposition”, who obeys only his own rules. He is not contactable, avoids society, as he is well aware of his dissimilarity. This is a person who lives outside of his time period.

If we take the present time as a segment, then a marginalized person can either overtake his contemporaries or lag behind them, consciously choosing for himself to live according to rules that have already expired.

Is it good or bad? None of our contemporaries can know this. What will take root from what the leader preaches, what will rise from the past tomorrow?

Despite the fact that the marginalized have always been, if not despised, then treated sympathetically, they are very an important part society, although they try their best not to be this part.

It is the marginalized people who go against everything that discover new things to the world (which of them was not considered marginalized in their time - Jesus Christ? Copernicus? Nikola Tesla? Mayakovsky? Picasso?), or carefully preserve “remnants of the past” (Orthodox believers in the Soviet Union) .

Feminists and fighters for the equality of blacks in the United States are recent marginalized people, and today racists and chauvinists who claim that women are inferior beings are considered marginalized.

Freelancers who don’t want to work from 8 to 5, and child-free people who aren’t crazy about the idea of ​​leaving behind offspring; hippies who defend free love as opposed to traditional family values and downshifters who don’t spend their lives working are all marginalized.

But we no longer have a sharply negative attitude towards them, as we did just a few years ago. Society recognized their right to exist. The more developed a society is, the more loyal it is to any manifestations of individuality.

And I think it will still pass not much time, and people with their own special outlook on life will be treated not from the position of usefulness and compliance with traditions, but from the position of harmlessness and possible creative potential.

After all, there are more and more developed societies, and the freedom of one ends where the freedom of another begins.

When reading paper or online publications, you can often come across words whose meaning is unclear. Embargo, mainstream, gender, collapse, gadget, pattern, retail, headliner, trend, fake... You can guess what some of them mean by general sense text, but this is not always easy. The task becomes easier when the word is in currently time is used by the media so often that it is firmly remembered, and the reader has no choice but to find out or guess the meaning of a particular term.

"Unclear Concepts"

The most difficult thing is with words that are not used daily in speech. large number journalists. These include, for example, “offer” or “marginal”. The meaning of a word is sometimes difficult to guess by its sound. And if the word is foreign, then the task becomes almost impossible. We have to turn to explanatory dictionaries to establish the origin of a term that is unfamiliar to the ear.

Who is the marginalized? The meaning of the word is particularly difficult to ascertain for several reasons. Firstly, not all explanatory dictionaries provide the full number of meanings. Secondly, the very meaning of this word has undergone several dramatic changes, which has made it rather blurred and unclear. Only by tracing the entire history can one understand this issue.

First of all, the marginal is not mathematical concept, not a plant or a wardrobe item. This is a man. But what kind of a person is, what distinguishes him from everyone else and why he received a separate status - all these questions are the subject of a detailed conversation.

Margins of the early 20th century

The term itself was formulated in 1928 by the American sociologist Robert Park, and has since undergone significant changes in its meaning. Initially, R. Park, the founder of the psychology of urban lifestyle, believed that the marginal is someone who is in an uncertain position between villager and urbanized. His usual culture was destroyed, and he did not fit into the new one. Such a person can be called a savage concrete jungle, his behavior is so unacceptable in social environment cities.

The term was derived from the Latin margo - “edge”. Thus, marginalized are people who live on the border of various social elements, but do not fit into the norms of any of them.

Marginal personality according to Robert Park

The meaning of the word was quite negative from the very beginning. How best to answer the question? Professor R. Park himself defined the main character traits of such a person as follows: anxiety, aggressiveness, ambition, resentment and self-centeredness. That's what they usually called various kinds asocial elements: the poorest migrants, tramps, homeless people, drunkards, drug addicts, criminals. In general, representatives of the social bottom. Borderline state The situation in which these people find themselves leaves an imprint on their psyche.

Any society has its own written and unwritten rules, foundations, and traditions. The marginalized person rejects all this, not feeling his duty towards society, not sharing the norms accepted in it. According to R. Park, such individuals experience strong need alone and in a solitary manner life.

Classification

According to modern sociological classification, there are several groups of people who, based on a number of unifying features, can be called marginal.

These groups include:

• ethnic marginals (descendants of mixed marriages, migrants);
• biological marginals (people with limited physical or mental abilities, deprived of the attention and care of society);
• age marginals (a generation whose connection with for the most part society was torn apart);
• social marginals (people who do not fit into one or another social structure due to their lifestyle, worldview, profession, etc.);
• economic marginals (the unemployed and the poorest segments of the population);
• political marginals (those who use methods of political struggle that are not accepted in a given society);
• religious marginals (believers who do not adhere to a particular denomination);
• criminal marginals (criminals, by the standards of a given society).

In modern society

Due to such a broad classification and gradual expansion of the meaning of the concept of “marginal”, examples can be found in the most different areas life:

• a tramp who has neither housing nor work;
• a person who left to seek the meaning of life in India or Tibet;
• a hippie who denies social hierarchy;
• a world traveler living on the road;
• drug addict;
• hermit, antisocial person;
• freelancer and any “free artist” not bound by corporate conventions;
• a bank robber who breaks laws and is forced to go into hiding;
• a multimillionaire whose lifestyle is significantly different from the vast majority of society.

In a word, everyone who does not fit into the so-called “correct” social behavior, can be called marginals. Over time, the meaning of this term has changed significantly.

From social bottom to special group

By the end of the 20th century. the term has lost its original, abruptly negative meaning. In print, television and online media, phrases such as “marginal literature”, “marginal topic”, “marginal culture”, “marginal movement”, “marginal worldview” began to appear. In these, at first glance, very strange semantic combinations the changed meaning of the word appears.

Now, in many cases, a marginalized person is a person whose lifestyle differs from the generally accepted one. Moreover, this can be either a difference with a “minus” sign (homeless, drunkard) or with a “plus” sign (hermit monk, billionaire).

It has also become common to use this word in the following meanings: “belonging to a minority”, “little known”, “little influential”, “incomprehensible, not close to the majority of society.”

Due to the transformation of the meaning of this term, it is becoming increasingly difficult to give a clear answer to the question of who is a marginalized person. This word is gradually losing its original, unambiguously negative connotation, approaching a neutral sound. Marginal - someone who (by choice or not) does not fit into traditional way of life your social environment.

Marginal properties of objects

In addition to the meaning related to human personality or social groups, this term expresses certain properties material world. For example, in explanatory dictionaries The following meanings of the adjective “marginal” are described:

• insignificant, secondary;
• minor, minor;
• written in the margins (of a book, manuscript, etc.).

Foreign words with unclear meanings surround us everywhere, but they help us understand them modern dictionaries. So it is with the concept “marginal”, the meaning of which is varied and often changes depending on the situation of use.

You can often hear that people who are free from stereotypes and the usual majority of dependencies are called “marginal”. The meaning of the word can confuse many, since this concept may include homeless people, immigrants, intellectual freelance artists, oligarchs of the new wave. These are completely different segments of the population, different people. What unites them? Who are considered marginalized?

Man overboard"

For some reason, these individuals and groups find themselves “overboard” because they do not fit into the framework of the prevailing certain society and traditions. It turns out that any person who, by his own will or against it, avoids the usual attitudes or denies them, does not live like everyone else, and does not join society can be considered marginalized. Originality, inability to communicate, and a special craving for loneliness also immediately put a certain personality beyond the peculiar edge of the usual boundaries.

Let's look at what the word “marginal” means. According to the interpretation encyclopedic dictionaries, this is a person who is on the border of different social systems, cultures, groups and is influenced by conflicting rules, norms and values. Synonym this concept is considered to include representatives of the social “bottom”.

It turns out that if you have one of such characteristics as originality, inability to communicate, or a special craving for loneliness, you already find yourself outside the peculiar edge of the usual boundaries, you are already marginalized. Who is it - “living on the margins” or “cultural hybrid”? How to divide people “outside the framework” - into marginals of the higher and lower level? At the same time, the first include those who left the lower class and remain in high levels, and to the second - those who have degraded or, conversely,
found comprehensive answers to all the main questions of existence?

"Living on the Sidelines"

People who live differently from everyone else, who neglect social standards, but do not go beyond the legal framework, are marginalized. The meaning of the word does not imply anything offensive, but rather means someone who is in the minority. First this term became widespread at the beginning of the 20th century. It was used by a researcher Chicago school sociology Robert Park. It was made in one of his essays entitled “Human Migration and the Marginal Man” in relation to immigrants in North America, which have not found application in new country who have not accepted the new norms and continue to adhere to their traditions.

All shades of meaning

The background to the emergence of the term can be considered the concept of “intermediate element”, used in works studying the life of immigrant groups in urban social organization. They described the position of individuals balancing on the border absolutely different cultures, and the consequences of their lack of adaptation in the new society. These immigrants were the first to be dubbed with such a name as marginals. The meaning of the word has acquired new shades over time. Its peculiar vagueness introduced some confusion in understanding the meaning of the term. This is how they began to call people outside the usual society, people with traces of physical or mental illnesses.

What does the word “marginal” mean, missing from the dictionaries of Ozhegov, Brockhaus and Efron, in the TSB? In some sources you can only find the etymology of the single-root word “marginalia” - notes or headings written in the margins of a magazine, book or other printed product. Later in " Soviet encyclopedia“The word “marginality” appears, meaning the intermediate position of an individual in a certain society.

In the modern Russian language, individuals, social strata or groups located on the “sidelines”, outside the framework characteristic of a particular society structural divisions, traditions, are referred to as marginals. The meaning of the word is rather vague, but Lately quite fashionable.

"Non-systemic"

The concept of the word “marginal” is somehow non-evaluative. It is on the border between “good” and “bad”. After all, what today is perceived as being outside the framework of the system, tomorrow may well enter it, or may not enter it, remaining “outside” the social structure.

Positive and negative marginalism

The word “marginal” can be analyzed in two aspects: positive and negative. After all, the values ​​inherent in a “non-systemic” personality do not necessarily have to oppose everything that is established and philistine. They may well complement it.

Marginalized people are often seen as “weirdos.” Serious hobby classical music a person from among businessmen makes him strange and special among his colleagues, since values ​​are rarely quoted among them high art. He is in the minority in his company. And there are many such people in history who feel like strangers in their environment. These are A. I. Solzhenitsyn, A. Einstein, Thomas Mann and a number of others famous personalities. Many of their ideas were not understood and not accepted by their contemporaries, but received highly appreciated in future. It is impossible to list all the names, but the uniqueness of these individuals always creates favorable conditions for the occurrence of an unforeseen, original and unaccounted for event.

And there are marginalized people who rather hinder development. Because of their low intellectual abilities they cannot adapt to generally accepted conditions, it is easier for them to deny established standards and lead an antisocial lifestyle.

Understanding the phenomenon of marginality is often attempted to be interpreted in terms of negative attitude. Or you can philosophize and try to find the line between the extraordinary manifestation of the individuality of the average person and the usual perception of the word “marginal,” which is quite difficult.

05/06/2018 74 487 2 Igor

Psychology and Society

Often on television or in media mass media we hear and see foreign word"marginal". Its meaning has undergone significant changes, from the time it was formulated by the American sociologist R. Park to the present day. To explain the actual meaning of this concept in simple words, it is necessary to trace the history of the use of this term and highlight the main types of marginalized people in the history of mankind.

Content:

Who is the marginalized?

This term was first used in psychology in 1928 by Robert Park to mean a person occupying an intermediate position between rural and urban residents. This is someone who previously lived in a village, village, and then moved to the city, while his cultural values, acquired during your stay in rural areas, did not fit into the requirements and foundations of urban civilization. His behavior and habits turned out to be unacceptable for the urban social environment. Today, not only people who do not fit into the urban environment are called marginalized.

This term has received enough wide use. Sociological science refers to a marginalized person whose behavior goes beyond the generally accepted norms and rules of any social group. It is between two contradictory friend in groups. It leads to internal conflict person. The marginal is part of two different social groups, but does not accept either of them (does not live by their laws and is not guided by the norms and values ​​accepted in them). WITH psychological point From the point of view, the marginal physically belongs to one or another social group, but psychologically, morally, emotionally is outside its boundaries.

The meaning of the word "Marginal"

Marginal (from Latin “marginalis”– extreme or “margo” – edge) – a person living in a social environment, but not accepting the worldview, principles, norms, values ​​imposed by it, moral ideals, Lifestyle. We can say that he is on the edge of the system, beyond the imposed social structure laws and orders. In modern Russian there are many synonyms for the word “marginal”: outcast, White crow, informal, individual, asocial, nihilist. Example: homeless person, hippie, goth, hermit monk, ascetic.

Also, Karl Marx designated people from the lower strata of society with the term “Lumpen”. In modern times, the two concepts of marginal and lumpen are intertwined with each other.

Signs of marginality:

• disruption of important connections for a person (biosocial, cultural, spiritual, economic) that existed in a previous life;
• constant movement due to lack of attachment to anything;
• interior psychological conflict due to the inability to find oneself and the emergence of mental problems on this basis;
• due to non-compliance with law and order, the ease of becoming an unlawful member of society (offender);
• representatives of the lowest strata of society (homeless people, alcoholics, drug addicts, etc.);
• formation own values and norms that very often contradict and are hostile to the values ​​of the social group to which the marginalized person belongs.

At first glance, the word “marginal” has only negative connotations. Actually this is not true. Like any phenomenon, marginality has, in addition to negative sides, and positive, which include the following:

• a different way of thinking and worldview is a source of progressive, innovative activity;
• due to the high mobility of the marginalized more chances start life over again, get a different education, find better job, move to a more prosperous area of ​​the city or change your country of residence to a more economically developed one;
• Due to their uniqueness and dissimilarity with others, marginalized people have the opportunity to find an untapped niche in the market of goods and services and engage in a profitable business (open their own business related to the sale of ethnic goods, souvenirs from former place residence). For this reason, marginalized people very often become billionaires.

Marginal personality according to Robert Park

American sociologist Robert Park considered the following to be the main character traits and personality traits of marginalized people:

• anxiety;
• aggressiveness;
• ambition;
• touchiness;
• selfishness;
• categorical views;
• negativism;
• unsatisfied ambition;
• anxiety states and phobias.

In society, marginalized individuals were people with an asocial lifestyle (poor refugees, homeless people, beggars, tramps, people with various kinds of addictions, lawbreakers), who can be classified as representatives of the social bottom. Their living conditions have a significant impact negative impact on their mental condition. Any civilized society lives according to its own established rules, customs and norms. R. Park believed that marginal personality:

1. Rejects any norms and traditions accepted in society.
2. Has no sense of duty towards the society in which he lives.
3. Experiences a strong need to be alone and avoids the company of people.

Important! Most sociological experts and practicing psychologists believe that the margins are a source of cultural growth. He can objectively, without external influence evaluate any phenomenon and situation, because they are not involved in it, as if isolated. It fills social group new ideas, views, introduces new trends, helps members of society develop, broaden their horizons, look at problems from a different perspective, instills.

Types of marginalized people

Depending on the reasons for the development of a marginal way of life and the characteristics of their manifestation, marginalized people are divided into the following types:

1. Ethnic- people who were forced by force various reasons and circumstances to change their place of residence and find themselves among representatives of another nationality, nationality, ethnic group, culture. This type is the most difficult to overcome, since a person takes a long time to adapt to a foreign culture, traditions, language, religion and is unable to change his appearance, racial and nationality(descendants of mixed marriages, emigrants).
2. Social- associated with the change of one economic system to another (slavery was replaced by feudalism, socialism by capitalism). Entire groups of people cannot immediately find their place and adapt to the new social system.
3. Biological– an ideal society is one that takes care of its weak and sick members. In reality, unhealthy people and people with disabilities or mental abilities has no value for society, they find themselves left behind in life (disabled people, old people, chronically ill people, HIV-infected people, children with Down syndrome and other diseases that limit their legal capacity).
4. Economic– people who, for whatever reason, have lost their jobs and the opportunity to have stable income, lost property, housing, and super-rich people, who, due to their material wealth, become cut off from all other members of society (beggars, homeless people, dependents, billionaires, oligarchs).
5. Religious– people who do not consider themselves either representatives of any existing religion or non-believers. These are those individuals who believe in their ideals, their gods and create their own churches and sects (prophets, sectarians).
6. Political- appear during turning points in history, during political crisis, when people lose faith in modern politicians and their proclaimed values, they fight against the existing political system, do not trust the authorities and take a hostile civil position.
7. Criminal– when refusal to live according to the laws and moral standards existing in society leads to the commission of an offense (criminals).
8. Age– when the older generation loses contact with youth, the so-called conflict between children and fathers arises.

Examples of marginalized people known in history

Vivid examples of marginalized people in history are entire neighborhoods of New York emigrants, Chinese China Town and Russian Brighton Beach. Many emigrants, due to the prevailing mentality, find themselves outside of American society, unable to integrate into it and accept new values.

Another example is marginals as a subclass Russian society, which arose as a result of the “breaking” of old and the emergence of new socio-economic relations in the 90s of the 20th century. Moreover, the marginalized people then included representatives of both poles social inequality: the lower strata of society (“social bottom”) and the so-called “new Russians”.

They were called marginalized all over the world famous writers and poets, artists and creators, geniuses and scientists, who during their lifetime were considered insane and outcasts due to their dissimilarity with others and lack of understanding of their views and creativity by the rest of society. IN modern world There is another group of marginalized people - people who spend most of their time at the computer, which leads to a change in their consciousness, the predominance virtual life above the real one.

From history, the marginalized include:

• Diogenes of Sinope - ancient Greek philosopher, student of Antisthenes;
• Stepan Razin - Don Cossack, leader of the uprising of 1670-1671;
• Emelyan Pugachev - Don Cossack, leader Peasant War 1773-1775;
• Ustim Karmelyuk - Ukrainian peasant, leader peasant movement in Podolia in 1813-1835.

If you remember the literary heroes:

• James Moriarty - A. Conan Doyle A series of works about Sherlock Holmes;