Summary Arjan de Haan's article introduces the concept of social exclusion and compares it to notions of deprivation that are more common in development studies. He argues that although there is substantial overlap between the different concepts and theories, a focus on social exclusion has distinct advantages: it makes the multiple and cumulative aspects of deprivation central to the analysis; and it focuses on institutions and actors. Theories of social exclusion are developed within richer countries ‐ particularly France ‐ but this does not pose a fundamental problem for the application of the theory to other countries, providing that the context‐dependant definitions and meanings of social exclusion and integration are taken into account.