Education, Citizenship, and the Politics of Belonging

The Right to Belong in School: A Critical, Transdisciplinary Conceptualization of School Belonging

“…Fights over citizenship and immigration are perhaps the most explicit, macro example of the politics of belonging, and one with significant impacts on K–12 students (El-Haj & Bonet, 2011). For example, when Donald Trump became president of the United States, he and his allies made it an explicit project to narrow the boundaries of who is and is not American, who can or cannot participate in American society.…”

Spatial, Relational and Affective Understandings of Citizenship and Belonging for Young People Today: Towards a New Conceptual Framework

“…A number of recent studies of transnational young people illustrate collective and hybrid aspects of belongingand young people as a result experience a high degree of flux, fluidity and conditionality in their citizenship and sense of belonging (or not belonging) (e.g. Abu El-Haj & Bonet, 2011;Yuval-Davis, Anthias, & Kofman, 2005). Many transnational young people feel included as citizensrecognised and capable of actionwithin one aspect of a place or period of time but not another.…”

“My World Is Upside Down”: Transnational Iraqi Youth and Parent Perspectives on Resettlement in the United States

“…Many others have examined the role of children and youth in migratory processes (Coe et al, 2011; Berry, 2006). Particularly relevant to the current study, Abu El-Haj & Bonet (2011) review a range of studies that report on identification and belonging among transnational Muslim youth. They suggest that in a post-9/11 context, youth identity must be analyzed and understood as being produced as much by interactions with larger economic social forces and discourses as by ideas endemic to their cultures of origin.…”