Political philosopher Iris Marion Young listed marginalization as one of her "five faces of oppression" in 1990. She described it as excluding a whole category of people from useful participation in social life, which can leave them dependent and materially deprived. She argued it was one of the most dangerous forms of oppression.
In the US, marginalization shows up in who is counted and heard. Native Americans are often reported as an asterisk in national data because sample sizes are too small, which makes their needs easy to ignore. People without stable housing, disabled people and people with criminal records face legal barriers to voting, jobs and housing. Language barriers keep some immigrant families from public services they qualify for.
The term marginalized communities is used widely in policy and philanthropy. Some advocates prefer phrases like "communities pushed to the margins" to make clear that someone did the pushing. Reversing marginalization means shifting power, such as giving affected communities a role in designing the programs meant for them.