Definition

1. Verb:
   • To treat a person, group, or concept as insignificant or peripheral; to relegate to a position of little power or importance within a society or system.
   • To place in a position of marginal importance, influence, or power.

Usage

• The verb "marginalise" describes the social process of pushing specific groups to the edges ("margins") of society, thereby limiting their access to resources, rights, and participation.
• It is typically used in contexts discussing social policy, politics, sociology, and economics.
• It is a transitive verb, requiring a direct object (e.g., to marginalise , , ).

Examples

• In Society:
  • Governments must implement policies that do not marginalise ethnic minorities.
  • The new law risks marginalising people with disabilities.
• In Discourse:
  • Some media outlets tend to marginalise dissenting opinions.
  • We must not marginalise the poor in our society.

Advanced Usage

• "to be marginalised" (Passive Voice): Describes the state of being pushed to the margins.
  • Indigenous communities have been marginalised for generations.
• "marginalising" (Present Participle/Gerund): Used to describe the ongoing action or as a noun for the process.
  • The policy has a marginalising effect on rural populations.
  • Marginalising vulnerable groups undermines social cohesion.

Variants and Related Words

• Marginalisation (noun, chiefly British English): The process or result of making a group or class of people less important or powerless.
  • The marginalisation of the working class is a serious concern.
• Marginalised (adjective): Describing a person or group that has been rendered powerless or unimportant.
  • We need to listen to marginalised voices.
• Marginal (adjective): Pertaining to, located at, or constituting a margin. (Note: This is the root adjective but does not carry the same active social meaning as the verb "marginalise").
  • The issue was of marginal importance to the committee.

Synonyms

• Exclude: To shut or keep out from participation, consideration, or inclusion.
• Ostracise: To exclude from a society or group.
• Alienate: To cause someone to feel isolated or estranged.
• Peripheralise: To make peripheral (less common synonym).

Antonyms

• Include: To comprise or contain as part of a whole.
• Integrate: To bring (people or groups) into equal participation in or membership of a social group or institution.
• Embrace: To accept or support willingly and enthusiastically.
• Centre (verb, often "center" in US English): To place in a central or key position.

Related Phrases and Concepts

• Social exclusion: A broader concept similar to marginalisation, involving the lack or denial of resources, rights, and opportunities.
• Systemic marginalisation: Refers to marginalisation that is embedded in the laws, policies, and institutions of a society.
• Economic marginalisation: The process of being confined to a lower economic status with limited opportunities.

Verb

1. relegate to a lower or outer edge, as of specific groups of people
   • We must not marginalize the poor in our society