Crime, Space, and Social Exclusion: Perspectives in Criminology Essay

This essay delves into the intricate relationship between crime, space, and social exclusion, examining how urban environments and societal structures contribute to the marginalization of certain groups. It explores the concept of 'social exclusion' as the denial of participation in social, political, and economic life, highlighting factors such as income inequality, lack of access to resources, and discrimination based on various characteristics. The essay discusses how urban development, particularly under capitalism, can lead to the displacement of low-income communities and the prioritization of the wealthy, thereby limiting access to public spaces and amenities. It also touches upon preventive exclusion measures and the role of political parties in exacerbating these inequalities. The analysis draws upon the works of various sociologists and researchers, providing a comprehensive understanding of the issue and its implications for contemporary society.

Running head: CRIME, SPACE AND SOCIAL EXCLUSION
Crime, Space and Social Exclusion
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1CRIME, SPACE AND SOCIAL EXCLUSION
Social Exclusion and The Right to the City
Social exclusion or social marginalisation is referred to the exclusion of certain
class/group of people from the society and its privileges, including participation in the social,
political and economic matters in a community. The World Health Organization has
discussed about the several factors that aids social exclusion of a certain category or class of
people, thereby broadly diving it as macro-level factors like lack of education, inequality in
terms of employment, cultural and gender norms; and micro-level factors like the difference
in income, lower occupational level and other kinds of societal differences such as race,
religion, gender, colour of the skin, et cetera (World Health Organization 2020). Such
approach of excluding certain class of people from certain ‘spaces’ or precisely the city life
has been the evolving social menace in today’s time.
Sociologist and social thinkers are of the view that all major cities in the world are
slowly growing towards evolving itself into a place for the riches as evidenced from its
increasing standard of living and the changing face of the city adorned with opulent
structures, new aged technologies and expensive skyscrapers (Harvey 2003). With the
advancement of time, migrant and aboriginal settlements in the city is being perceived
strangely; looking upon them with distrust and scepticism. As rightly pointed out Engels and
Dutt (1935), the growth of big modern cities involve a growth of an area centrally situated in
the city, with a high value of buildings and properties belonging to the riches of the rich that
slowly engulfs the places of the poor workers or shopkeepers around, for it becomes
unfetching for them to endure the high cost of living. A process of displacement lies at the
core of urbanisation under the rule of capitalism. It has been argued as a mirror-image of the
absorption of capital under the façade of redevelopment of the urban settlement, which
actually never required such drastic change in the name of ‘development’ (Harvey 2003). It is
evident that such developmental works are the examples of capture of valuable lands from the

2CRIME, SPACE AND SOCIAL EXCLUSION
low-income group by the industrialists and capitalists, with the view of set up factories or
modern townships, which in either way suppress the right of a section of people to enjoy the
right to city life, thereby facing the evil of social exclusion (Harvey 2003).
It has been pointed out that the idea of having access to public space and modern
amenities of the city life is becoming a privilege, which otherwise should be a universal
human right. The higher classes and the upper-middle classes are growing a hostility towards
certain section of marginal groups (Santos Junior 2014). Moreover, the political parties are no
less in providing the substantial amount of privileges and resources in the city, especially
towards the industrialist who finances election campaigns, thereby keeping the smallest part
of the resources for the low-income groups and marginal sections (Harvey 2003). It therefore,
shows the distinction brought between classes, thereby aiding social exclusion.

3CRIME, SPACE AND SOCIAL EXCLUSION
References
Engels, F. and Dutt, C.P., 1935. The housing question (Vol. 23). New York: International
Publishers.
Harvey, D., 2003. The right to the city. International journal of urban and regional
research, 27(4), pp.939-941.
Santos Junior, O.A.D., 2014. Urban common space, heterotopia and the right to the city:
Reflections on the ideas of Henri Lefebvre and David Harvey. urbe. Revista Brasileira de
Gestão Urbana, 6(2), pp.146-157.
World Health Organization. 2020. Social Exclusion. [online] Available at:
<https://www.who.int/social_determinants/themes/socialexclusion/en/> [Accessed 15 April
2020].