Buildings on the Fringes of Society – 19th Century Protestant Asylums for ‘Idiots’ as Places of Hyper-Inclusion

This article analyses one Christian welfare institution and discusses the effects of its spatial location on the social position of its clients. By examining the mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion, it focuses on the early history of the Asylum of Alsterdorf for imbecile and feeble-minded children...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Jelinek-Menke, Ramona 1985- (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: Brill 2016
In: Journal of religion in Europe
Year: 2016, Volume: 9, Issue: 4, Pages: 350-368
Standardized Subjects / Keyword chains:B Evangelische Stiftung Alsterdorf / Protestantism / Mentally handicapped person / Inclusion (Sociology)
IxTheo Classification:AD Sociology of religion; religious policy
CH Christianity and Society
KBB German language area
KDD Protestant Church
Further subjects:B Christian welfare institution disability segregation exclusion inclusion systems theory
Online Access: Volltext (Verlag)
Description
Summary:This article analyses one Christian welfare institution and discusses the effects of its spatial location on the social position of its clients. By examining the mechanisms of inclusion and exclusion, it focuses on the early history of the Asylum of Alsterdorf for imbecile and feeble-minded children (Asyl für schwach- und blödsinnige Kinder zu Alsterdorf) in nineteenth-century Hamburg. The analytical perspective follows the concept of inclusion–exclusion as presented in Niklas Luhmann’s systems theory. It is argued here that a religious welfare institution may enclose its clients in a hyper-inclusive system for theological reasons and that, consequently, institutions of this kind contribute to the social exclusion of their clients.
ISSN:1874-8929
Contains:In: Journal of religion in Europe
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1163/18748929-00904003