The purpose of this
lesson is to introduce the phenomena of
marginalization. This means that a person, a
sector of society , a regional or a whole group
of nations are excluded from participating in
those decisions which profoundly affect their
lives. The marginalized don't count except as
factors of production. They do not share in the
earth's riches. They are exploited as a means of
fulfilling the selfish needs of those with power.
They are excluded by reason of national debt,
farm subsidies in developed countries, financial
intermediation, military powers within or without
the country.
Yet marginalization also takes place on the very
local level:
-the teenager who lacks the education or the
ability to thrive in a knowledge
based society
-the children, the sick and elderly who are
unable to labor for a wage
-Those excluded because of race, religion or
ethnic background
-Those whose views are not heard in the parish
council because of lack of
education or feelings of inferiority.
THE
END OF THE COW
Upon his death, the farmer left the family cow to
his two sons. The clever older son gave his
younger brother the front end of the cow and he
took the back half for himself. Whereas the
younger brother had to feed his end of the cow,
the older brother got all the milk. The older
brother kept most of the profit for himself and
gave his younger brother only what was required
to subsist. After a long time, the younger
brother shot his end and the other end died.
QUESTION
- List some
justice principles at issue in above
story.
Sample Responses:
1. Goods of earth are given us by God for
welfare of all. (The father intended that
both his sons would fairly share his
inheritance.)
2. The violent treatment by the older
brother results in further violence to
the detriment of both sons.
3. The older son had the control of the
family by reason of birth.
4. Stewardship and responsibility.
5. A "subsistence life" versus
a "fully human life."
6. Offense against human dignity.
7. Exploitation is the manipulation of a
human person for one's selfish benefits.
- What
similarity is there between the father
and God?
Sample Answer:
The father in the story intended
that the cow would be used so that each
of us sons could live a decent life.
Instead the younger son by an accident of
birth must live at a subsistence level.
God has given the riches of creation for
all his children so that we can live a
fully human life.
SOCIAL
TEACHING OF THE CHURCH
"The fact is that many people, perhaps the
majority today, do not have the means which would
enable them to take their place in an effective
and humanly dignified way within a productive
system in which work is truly central. ...they
are to a great extent marginalized; economic
development takes place over their heads, so to
speak, when it does not actually reduce the
already narrow scope of their old subsistence
economies. …the chief problem is that of
gaining fair access to the international market,
based not on the unilateral principle of the
exploitation of the natural resources of these
countries but on the proper use of human
resources." Encyclical Letter, Centesimus
Annus, John Paul II (Vatican City: Libreria
Editrice Vaticana, 1991) #33 p. 63-66.
“THOU
SHALT THINK”
A. Who might be the marginalized people in your
area?
Sample Responses:
| MARGINALIZED
PERSONS IN MY AREA |
| 1.
Parish women who are illiterate |
| 2.
Kids who don't get a good secondary
placement |
| 3.
Indonesian domestics |
| 4.
Catholics who must work on Sundays and
can't join meetings. |
B.
How does the Church's "marginalization"
teaching relate to the recent World Trade
Organization's meeting in Cancun, Mexico?
"Trade ministers meet at the World Trade
Organization, finance ministers at the
international Monetary Fund, and head s of the
most developed countries at G8 summit meetings.
Though these organizations are formally
accountable to the states that are their members,
they represent only certain constituencies within
those states, frequently conduct their business
in closed sessions, and operate as distant
bureaucracies. Votes in these international
agencies are often distributed in proportion to
the wealth or budgetary contributions of the
member states and sometimes non-members are not
officially represented at all. ..If large blocs
of the world's people have no effective voice in
shaping the global institutions that
fundamentally affect their well-being, they are
not being treated as genuine members of the human
moral community." David Hollenbach, The
Common Good, Christian Ethics, (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 2002), pp. 224-225.
It is suggested that one or two members of your
Social Concerns group take one international
issue each year or two and make briefs reports
each meeting: e.g. farm subsidies, WTO, AIDS,
pharmaceuticals, rain forests.
Margin: 1. the space around the printed or
written matter on a page…. 3. a limit on
condition, capacity, etc., beyond or below which
something ceases to exist, be desirable, or be
possible:…" Websters New Universal
Unabridged Dictionary (New York: Random
House, Barnes & Noble, 1996) p. 1175.
Marginalize …to place in a position of
marginal importance, influence, or power…"
Ibid.
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