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Marginality

The dictionary definition of the word marginal generally relates to the placement of an object–that is, an object is considered marginal in relation to another more centrally located object. Throughout history, a central task in defining marginalization has been to determine the criteria for placing an object in a position of centrality or in the margin. Racial and language characteristics, values, and cultural perspectives, all of which can be embedded in constructs of power and dominance, have been identified as criteria for differentiating objects as central or marginal. In this context, marginalization is the categorization of persons of nondominant culture as inferior or lesser persons.

Centrality: A Mythical Norm

Centrality provides a normative position that is defined by the prevailing political and socially dominant culture. Any position of thought can be normative and, by virtue of its centrality, exert undeniable power over a general domain. At any time, the locus of power may appear certain and familiar, yet at the same time it may be illusive. Because power is defined and perpetuated by those whose interests it serves, the locus of power can be challenged and redefined. Centrality can only be maintained within the security of a political power that claims to represent a stable center and define the margins. In other words, the dominant culture maintains its dominance, and groups of people on the margins of society remain marginalized.

Cultural Changes in Centrality and Marginalization

Since the repeal of laws against miscegenation in 1967, we have seen an increase in biracial births in the United States. The presence of racially mixed persons has begun to change our society's long-held notions about the biological, moral, and social meaning of race and the role of European Americans and their values as dominant and central in our culture. In the past, feelings evoked by color and cultural ghettoization and stirred up by differences in language, values, codes of living, and religion resulted in the creation of dominant and marginalized races. These systems may now be ready to be deconstructed and reconstructed by those formerly considered to be marginalized individuals.

  • marginality
MaryAnna Domokos-ChengHam
http://dx.doi.org/10.4135/9781412952668.n144
See also

Further Reading

Ferguson, R.(1990). Introduction: Invisible Center. In R. Ferguson, M. Gever, T. T. Minh-ha, & C. West (Eds.), Out there: Marginalization and contemporary cultures (pp. 9–14). Cambridge: MIT Press.
Nelson-Jones, R.Diverse goals for multicultural counseling and therapy. Counseling Psychology Quarterly15(2)133–143(2002). http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09515070110100965
Park, R. E.(1937). Introduction. In E. B. Stonequist, The marginal man: A study in personality and culture conflict (p. xvii). New York: Russell & Russell.
Root, M. P. P. (Ed.). (1992). Racially mixed people in America. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Spickard, P. R.(1989). The illogic of American racial categories. In M. P. P. Root (Ed.), Racially mixed people in America (pp. 12–23). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
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