Belonging

It is commonly assumed that we live in an age of unbridled individualism, but in this important new book, Belonging, Montserrat Guibernau argues that the need to belong to a group or community—from peer groups and local communities to ethnic groups and nations—is a pervasive and enduring feature of modern social life.

The power of belonging stems from the potential to generate an emotional attachment capable of fostering a shared identity, loyalty, and solidarity among members of a given community. It is this strong emotional dimension that enables belonging to act as a trigger for political mobilisation and, in extreme cases, to underpin collective violence.

Among the topics examined in this book are identity as a political instrument; emotions and political mobilisation; the return of authoritarianism and the rise of the new radical right; symbols and the rituals of belonging; loyalty, the nation, and nationalism. It includes case studies from Britain, Spain, Catalonia, Germany, the Middle East, and the United States.

This wide-ranging and cutting-edge book will be of great interest to students and scholars in politics, sociology, and the social sciences generally.