The Sociology of Marginality and the Constraints of Social Integration in Yemen: A Field Analysis of the Structural and Cultural Factors Affecting the Akhdam Community

Abstract

This study seeks to approach the phenomenon of social marginalization in Yemen from a sociological perspective that focuses on the category of “Akhdam” as a model indicating the continuity of unequal social structures. The study starts from the problem of: How do structural and cultural factors contribute to reproducing marginalization and hindering the integration of marginalized people into Yemeni society?

To answer this problem, the study adopts a qualitative approach by conducting field interviews and direct observation of the lives of the marginalized in a number of residential communities, with the aim of analyzing their representations of themselves, their patterns of interaction with the surrounding society, and the obstacles that prevent their social and economic integration. Preliminary results reveal that marginalization is not reduced to material poverty, but rather extends to a symbolic and cultural structure that perpetuates social stigma and reproduces it through systems of values, language, and authoritarian relations. The study also highlights the impact of weak public policies and undeclared discrimination in the case of social isolation.

The paper concludes as a recommendation that it is necessary to adopt a comprehensive, inclusive approach that goes beyond relief solutions to policies of social and cultural empowerment that ensure the recognition of the marginalized as citizens with full rights, and build a new social discourse based on equality and symbolic justice.