The sense of society at the beginning of our century is dominated by the idea that the old distinction between top and bottom is being replaced by a new one between inside and outside. A divide runs through the layers and milieus between those who benefit from the changes in social conditions and those who cannot keep up. The provocation of the concept of exclusion lies in its ability to establish a connection between the margins and the center of society. What was once dismissed as a phenomenon of marginalized groups has now reached the center of society. Gradual degradations are experienced that suddenly cross a threshold into social exclusion. The "superfluous" have no rightful place, only a shared fate. Heinz Bude is a professor of sociology at the University of Kassel and a researcher at the Hamburg Institute.