This book takes a global perspective to address the concept of belonging in youth studies, interrogating its emergence as a reoccurring theme in the literature and elucidating its benefits and shortcomings. While belonging offers new alignments across previously divergent approaches to youth studies, its pervasiveness in the field has led to criticism that it means both everything and nothing and thus requires deeper analysis to be of enduring value. The authors do this work to provide an accessible, scholarly account of how youth studies uses belonging by focusing on transitions, participation, citizenship and mobility to address its theoretical and historical underpinnings and its prevalence in youth policy and research.
"Anita Harris, Hernam Cuervo, and Johanna Wyn have written a brave pioneering book, exploring how this mercurial idea has been used and how it can in the future contribute to youth studies and-or the sociology of youth. They take readers on a scholarly and illuminating journey. It is a surprising journey ... . The result is a carefully curated historic and contemporary tour of the many social sciences that help make up youth studies." (Judith Bessant, Journal of Applied Youth Studies, Vol. 5 (1), March, 2022)