To varying extents in all developed countries, a minority of the population suffers from deprivation. The Labour government in Britain in particular has sought to conceptualize and deal with this through the notion of 'Social Exclusion', and similar ideas have been developed in other countries. This important text explores the various forms of this contemporary economic and social disadvantage and in particular, investigates its social and spatial causes and the role of space in policies addressing disadvantage. Part 1 introduces contemporary and historical conceptualizations and ideologies surrounding social exclusion and poverty. Part 2 goes on to analyse the origins of social exclusion by examining the different spheres of disadvantage and their relations. Finally, Part 3 discusses different strategies for overcoming social exclusion and their relation to theories considered earlier in the book, and presents and criticizes policy ideas from across the political spectrum. Social exclusion is a subject of considerable interest across the social sciences, and this topical book investigates all aspects of the subject, providing students of planning and urban studies with a valuable source of information, international in scope and wide-ranging in content.