3.1. EC-defmitions.
The decision of the Council of Ministers, which launched the new "Poverty Programme" of 1990-1994, offers no definition of poverty or exclusion. However, its predecessor of 1985-1989 was based on a definition of "the poor" in terms of exclusion: "’The poor’ shall be taken to mean persons whose resources (material, cultural and social) are so limited as to exclude them from the minimum acceptable way of life in the Member States in which they live."
The Council of Ministers’ Resolution on Social Exclusion (29/9/1989) also implied that social exclusion and poverty - in the sense of inadequate resources - were closely interrelated. "Social exclusion is not simply a matter of inadequate resources, and ... combatting exclusion also involves access by individuals and families to decent living conditions, by means of measures for social integration/insertion and insertion/integra- tion into the labour market."
Consequently, the term "social exclusion" implies more than disadvantage. Therefore we could define social disadvantage as a lack of decent living conditions (as judged by the standards in the Member State concerned), resulting from either:
a) inadequate (financial) resources, or
b) restricted access to education, training, employment, housing, community services, medical care, etc.
We could consider individuals to suffer from social exclusion where these disadvantages: a) are generalized across the various life chances;
b) involve substantially reduced chances of gaining access to the major life-chance distributing institutions and thus securing decent living conditions;
c) tend to persist over time.
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Belgian definitions.The concept of "social exclusion" still has no precise theoretical content in Belgium. Some distinguish social exclusion from poverty, whereas others do not. At the same time other notions with an identical meaning are being used.
* Social exclusion related to poverty.
Although some official and research definitions still reduce poverty to its income component, the analysis of poverty has developed so as to include aspects of social exclusion as well. The poor are defined as "people excluded from...", or as "people living in a network of deprivations".
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"Social exclusion" is becoming part of the political vocabulary in Flanders. It still remains more typical of the French-speaking part of Belgium. This is not astonishing, since the concept in its modern sense has always been a key concept in the French discourse on inequality and poverty.
In Flanders, the concept of "kansarmoede" has become dominant in the 1980’s. Literally translated it means "poverty of opportunities", or in a broader sense "underprivileged". It describes a situation of related deprivations on the labour market, on the housing market, in the educational system, in health care, ... In fact, "Kansarmoede" includes the notion of exclusion, even if this concept of exclusion is not used explicitly.
* Social exclusion in a broader context.
Social exclusion is not only used in relation to poverty, but also with respect to other situations, mainly to ethnic differences. But here as well, alternative notions are dominant.
"Integration" has for some time been the key notion in migrants policies. They had to integrate, or had to be integrated, in Belgian society. Talking about integration means that the actual situation is seen as one of "not being integrated (enough)" or "being excluded" (in some or most respects). For some authors "integration" mainly implies that the migrants should adapt to Belgian society and its culture. But for others it is a problem of Belgian society itself: integration means that the social structures should adapt themselves to the presence of migrants, so as not to exclude them any longer.
However, the concepts "adaptation" and "integration" are often used indiscriminately. The Royal Commissioner on Migrants’ Policy has introduced yet another notion, that of "inpassing" or "insertion" in Belgian society.
The concept of "integration" has recently been used in Flanders with respect to the poor. In 1989 the Flemish government created the "Flemish Fund for the Integration of the Deprived" and in 1990 its successor, the "Flemish Fund for the Integration of the Underprivileged" (see part III, chapter 2, 1.4. & 1.6.). By using the notion of integration one defines here the present situation as well as one of being excluded.
Another notion is favoured by the King Baudouin Foundation. This "think-tank" has always played an important role in the combat against poverty in Belgium. In their Third Social Programme they stress the importance of more "solidarity" in Belgian society. By using the concept of solidarity, they refer explicitly to social exclusion, but without an analysis or definition of this concept so far. For 1992 a publication is planned in which a first attempt at clarifying key concepts will be made (Vranken, Delanoeije, 1992).
Finally, the King Baudouin Foundation launched the concept of an "inclusive policy to combat poverty". "Inclusive" indicates that the combat against poverty should no longer
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be an isolated policy. All departments have to be aware of the problem and try to avoid exclusion. Combatting poverty has to be "included" in these departments. The link between policies to combat poverty and the so-called "hard" sectors such as employment, housing and education is crucial (Geldof, Vranken, 1991; Geldof, 1992).
3.3. Social exclusion: conceptual conclusions.
The concept of "social exclusion" has no precise theoretical content in Belgium. Several approaches are used, some distinguish social exclusion from poverty, while others do not. Whereas in the beginning, poverty was described as a financial problem, it now has developed so as to include aspects of social exclusion as well. Nowadays we discover a trend in which social exclusion is not only related to poverty, but also to other elements, for example to ethnic differences.
The attention of most of the Belgian researchers and politicians is still focused on poverty, and not yet on social exclusion. However, the alternative notions used are based on the same kind of analyses as the concept of social exclusion. The linguistic differences are greater than the intellectual differences.
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