Społeczne negocjowanie prawa do pomocy. Socjologiczna analiza wybranych przypadków działalności w obszarze wykluczenia

The article deals with the phenomenon of social exclusion, and specifically with the differential access of people and groups to aid given by mainstream society, and the rise of a category defined as “the excluded among the excluded”. The starting point for the current analysis is the observation that aid does not reach to the same degree all members of society who need it. Aid is rationed and distributed among the recipients according to non-accidental rules created by communities. These rules are constructed with consideration given to material and technical limitations, but they also reflect social awareness of who and how should be helped. The aim of this article is to answer the question of how definitions of the situations which lead to granting or taking away of the right to aid are established, which social actors gain control over social definitions of the situation of need and help, and what the consequences of this control. I use the case study method to analyze the practices of NGOs which address their actions to people and groups afflicted by different types of social exclusion.