Open AccessUnequal Inclusion: The Production of Social Differences in Education Systems
Author(s) -
Marcus Emmerich,
Ulrike Hormel
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
social inclusion
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.511
H-Index - 17
ISSN - 2183-2803
DOI - 10.17645/si.v9i3.4322
Subject(s) - inclusion (mineral) , inequality , sociology , reproduction , categorical variable , closure (psychology) , social inequality , educational inequality , social reproduction , epistemology , production (economics) , positive economics , social science , political science , computer science , economics , mathematics , social capital , microeconomics , law , mathematical analysis , ecology , philosophy , biology , machine learning
The article raises the question of whether and how education systems produce social differences internally rather than reproducing pre‐existing “external” inequalities. Linking Niklas Luhmann’s theory of inclusion/exclusion with Charles Tilly’s theory of categorical inequalities, and based on empirical data from various qualitative studies, the article identifies an “observation regime” epistemically constituting the social classification of students and legitimising organisational closure mechanisms in the school system. As an alternative to the “reproduction paradigm,” a research approach guided by differentiation theory is proposed that takes into account that educational inequality operationally arises on the “inside” of the educational system and is caused by unequal inclusion processes.