ABSTRACT
The development of different types of marginality serves a precise cognitive purpose. The strictly descriptive goal is achieved by means of a criterion of classification (typology) based on the functionalist model of specialized subsystems (Parsons [1951] 2012). In this case to address the gnoseological issue of marginality, Germani uses the intellectual tools of knowledge, in particular the criterion of typology, permitting the creation, as Marradi sustains, of an n-dimensional set of types (Marradi 1990). The typologies are placed into direct relation with the definition of marginality, drawing attention to the fact that the dimensions of marginality that emerge are as many as the roles potentially indispensable for concrete and real participation (Germani 1972).
