Marginality

The concept of social marginality is important to many understandings of globalization, including world-systems theory, because it involves the relationship of fringe elements to a core group. To be marginal signifies being at the edge of a system, not belonging strictly to it, being remote from a core or center, being unimportant. It is an old phenomenon and is linked to the human (social) condition; it can be found also within certain animal groups. It is also relevant to understanding globalization in the 21st century. Marginality is related to peripherality and can be seen as an extension of the core-periphery model—a point to be discussed in this entry. The focus here lies on marginality as a spatial phenomenon (marginal regions), but other aspects also will be considered.

Despite a strong focus on economic aspects, marginality is in fact a multifaceted phenomenon, ranging from spatial to social and cultural sciences and requiring an interdisciplinary perspective. It is the result of a process (marginalization) that is often seen as unidirectional but in reality can be reversed.

The basic concept of core and periphery can be traced back to Central Place studies, in particular to Walter Christaller's pioneering work of 1933. Christaller modeled relations between centers and their hinterlands, emphasizing spatial and functional hierarchy. A center serves its hinterland and is classed according to the level of services it provides. It is a rigid dualistic model, as is the first explicit core-periphery model developed by John Friedmann (1966) as the second of four stages of spatial economic development. The core or center [Page 1112]is the place where information flows converge; this convergence gives the core an advantage over the periphery, which is linked or integrated to the core. The margin, by extension, lies outside and has no place in this dualistic view. Its inclusion (Figure 1) leads to a concentric model.

Figure 1 Core, periphery, margin, and information and other flows.

This model, therefore, comprises three spatial components—core, periphery, and margin—which are linked by relations or flows. The model offers a static perspective with the core as an unvarying entity, completed, however, by the dynamic element of the flows that guarantees constant interaction with the periphery. The margin is only modestly touched and can therefore be regarded as static. From a wider perspective, the three elements core, periphery, and margin can be regions, institutions, or persons.

Dynamics characterizes all systems. Nothing on Earth is static; hence, even a seemingly static margin (whether region, institution, or person) will be subject to change. Also, core-periphery relations are not permanently the same. Alain Reynaud refined the original linear approach by postulating different types of peripheries (dominated, integrated, neglected, exploited) and by contending that both core and periphery are dynamic and able to change status and position in the system. Thus, the periphery may become aware of, and take advantage of, its own potential and detach itself from the simple core-periphery relationship: Core and periphery may become autonomous spatial units. The extreme case would be inversion (a core becomes a periphery, and a periphery develops into a core).

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