Entre la exclusión y la desigualdad social: las expulsiones en la obra de Saskia Sassen

This essay examines Saskia Sassen’s (2015) Expulsiones: Brutalidad y complejidad en la economía global. The methodology is based on a critical reading of the text, with the aim of analyzing how the author constructs her object of study around the concept of expulsions. Sassen argues that expulsions represent an emerging phenomenon, deeper than exclusion yet also a consequence of inequality. She proposes that expulsions are shaped by complex predatory formations operating as a form of natural selection, determining who remains within the capitalist system and who is pushed to its margins. In this process, finance and territorial disputes play a crucial role. The essay also incorporates examples of this phenomenon in the Honduran context, illustrating how economic and political decisions –including those at the municipal level– can lead to the dispossession of entire communities. Sassen’s work invites a rethinking of the traditional notion of exclusion; however, certain gaps are identified in her notion of underground trends, which support her concept of expulsions. This analysis aims to contribute to filling those gaps.