This paper is the first in a series of Social Development Papers, which
are being issued to promote discussion of social development issues that
influence development and poverty reduction. We are pleased that the
inaugural paper in the series is an exposition by Nobel laureate Amartya
Sen on an important and often overlooked dimension of poverty–social
exclusion.
It is generally recognized that poverty has both material and nonmaterial
dimensions. Because of their obvious tangibility, many development
practitioners find it easier to understand and address the material
dimensions of poverty.
The exclusion of the poor from participation in and access to opportunities
and activities is a major nonmaterial dimension of poverty that also needs
to be recognized and addressed. This paper helps us to understand social
exclusion as both a cause and a consequence of poverty. I hope that the
ideas conveyed in the paper will have a dual impact: first, that they will
help development practitioners to obtain a better understanding and
appreciation of the nonmaterial dimensions of poverty; and second, that
they will stimulate discussion that will help development practitioners to
respond effectively to this dimension of poverty reduction.