Exclusion as Power: The Conditions Under which Social Exclusion Leads to Conflict

Abstract

This article describes the conditions under which social exclusion leads to conflict. Following Max Weber's concept of social organization, exclusion is defined as a person's lack of opportunity to participate in vital social systems of society. The article also links action theory and structural theory approaches. It systemizes the conditions for exclusion-based conflict identified by empirical research and theoretical discussion in a model of conflict formation.
The central assumption is that exclusion leads to conflict when groups perceive it as a collective sanction and thus as an expression of power. Conflicts that are based on such a perception tend to be conducted as power conflicts.