Social Inclusion: A Philosophical Anthropology 1

In this article the theoretical conflations associated with the concept of social exclusion are disaggregated into a number of competing versions in terms of their social scientific and normative bases. The types of policy, analysis and critique that are engendered by these conceptions of exclusion are examined for their underlying social scientific methodology. The disjunction between positive, interpretative and critical approaches to social exclusion can only satisfactorily be broached by a methodology utilising a critical realist framework. This framework requires the integration of a theorised dialectical linkage between inclusion and exclusion. The necessary conceptual prerequisites are outlined for modelling inclusion and exclusion in a substantive, contextually sensitive manner that enables critical assessment.