During the early sixties the term 'marginalisation' began to be used in Latin America in the social sciences to refer to the heterogeneous and inequitable effects of the processes of industrialisation and development. The term began to be used in the front-line between two paradigms in conflict, allowing for two different forms of interpretation: the notion of social or cultural marginalisation developed within modernisation theory, and the notion of economic marginalisation developed by dependence theory. This paper aims to review the characteristics that the concept of marginalisation acquired within each of these conceptual frameworks, focusing on works by Gino Germani, José Nun and Miguel Murmis. Last of all, the paper outlines the main arguments included in the contemporary form of the concept and its potential applicability to current circumstances in Latin America