Social Disqualification

SOCIAL DISQUALIFICATION IS a concept developed in Europe to describe the way in which different segments of the labor force become marginalized. Marginalization leads to the destruction of social ties and the loss of opportunity to regain a place in society with a living wage.

The history of European society is one of great class differences. The differences may have lasted from Roman times until today, stemming from Roman conquests and from the various barbarian tribes who rampaged across Europe in the Middle Ages. The defeated often went to the bottom of the socioeconomic system, from where it was difficult to move upward because of race and language differences that grew into social differences.

The concept of social disqualification describes a process of stages through which whole sections of the population progress. The end result is to marginalize some people more than others and the effect of the process varies from country to country. The concept, while applicable across Europe, is also used to describe social discrimination in many poor countries around the world.

In Europe, the process of social disqualification can lead to isolation and to even greater poverty because the social support network is lost. This means, for example, that if a person is out of work and a job becomes available, she may not learn of the employment opportunity because she lost contact with the network of people who would pass along the information. Social isolation is usually greater in northern Europe than in southern Europe.

Social disqualification leading to isolation can be the result of a number of factors. Being stigmatized as a social “leper” because of illness, race, creed, gender, sexual orientation, or some other factor can lead to social disqualification because “that kind” is not wanted for work. Diseases such as AIDS/HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria; injury; or illness can lead to social disqualification in all countries of the world. This is most especially [Page 986]the case in the world's poorest countries, where there are no laws to protect the disadvantaged from discrimination. Social disqualification can also be the product of long-standing social practices. For example, in the history of nursing in England, the profession was held in high regard from the beginning because Florence Nightingale drew its first members from idealistic and well-educated young women from the upper classes. However, in the history of nursing in Austria, the women who filled the profession were drawn from the poor.