A compelling account of how race and politics have affected Iranian immigrants in the United States and Germany Iranians have a complex and contradictory relationship with race. Though categorized as “white” by the US census, many Iranian Americans remain marginalized, and experience racial and political stigma daily. On the other hand, Iranian Germans who have been in Germany for decades, and are typically regarded as 'good foreigners,' continue to experience marginality and discrimination illustrating the limitations of integration and citizenship. Conditional Belonging explores these apparent contradictions through a comparative analysis of the Iranian diasporic experience in the United States and Germany, focusing particularly on the different processes of racialization of the immigrants. Drawing from eighty-eight interviews with first- and second-generation Iranians living in California and Hamburg, Sahar Sadeghi illuminates how international events, global political policy, and national social climates influence the extent to which Iranians define themselves as members of their adopted nations. All these factors lead to radically different experiences of belonging, or more specifically “conditional belonging,” for Iranians living in Western nations—while those in America might have situational access to whiteness, this is not always available to Iranians in Germany. The combination of these experiences results in perceptions, narrations, and experiences of what the author calls “being but not belonging.” Conditional Belonging is an important and timely book that broadens our understanding of how unpredictable and fluid a sense of belonging to a country can be.

Migrant Women Transforming Citizenship develops essential insights concerning the notion of transnational citizenship by means of the life stories of skilled and educated migrant women from Turkey in Germany and Britain. It interweaves and develops theories of citizenship, identity and culture with the lived experiences of an immigrant group that has so far received insufficient attention. By focusing on the British and German contexts, it introduces a much needed European and comparative perspective, whilst exploring the ways in which diverging concepts and policies of citizenship allow for a differentiated examination of ethnicity, gender, multiculturalism and citizenship in Europe. Presenting a significant and welcome contribution to our understanding of the complexities of multiculturalism it challenges Orientalist images of women as backward and oppressed. Through engagement with the changing realities of education, work, intimacy, family and social activism, this volume provides a situated account of how the concepts of citizenship, transnationality and culture play out in actual social relations. With its rich empirical material the book explores how migrant women create new practices and meanings of belonging across boundaries. Critiquing dominant multiculturalist and anti-multiculturalist accounts, this book suggests how citizenship debates can be reframed to be inclusive of migrant women as actors. As such it will appeal to those working across a range of social sciences, including sociology and the sociology of work, race and ethnicity; citizenship, cultural and gender studies, as well as anthropology and social and public policy.

How do experiences of national identity and belonging differ for French Muslims and Catholics respectively? What can these differences tell us about the causes and dynamics of minority marginalization in plural secular societies? To address these questions, Carol Ferrara draws upon extensive ethnographic fieldwork across France within spaces of religious education and interfaith dialogue, illustrating the inequities between Muslim and Catholic citizens in opportunities for national belonging, political and civic engagement, and institution-building. This reexamination of Muslim exclusion against the backdrop of Catholic inclusion calls into question popular explanations for minority marginalization – especially those that blame non-adherence to French Republican principles or the exclusionary power of secular discourse. Instead, Ferrara argues that the boundaries of French belonging are policed by francité -a tacit national imaginary ideal-type that draws upon and reproduces national cognitive biases and undermines the French republican values of secularism, equality, liberty, and fraternity. Given the central role of francité in the politics of belonging, Ferrara suggests that paths toward greater pluralism in France and beyond lie in the reframing of national identity narratives and reimagining the inclusive potential of secular democratic values.

The rise of China has brought about a dramatic increase in the rate of migration from mainland China. At the same time, the Chinese government has embarked on a full-scale push for the internationalisation of Chinese media and culture. Media and communication have therefore become crucial factors in shaping the increasingly fraught politics of transnational Chinese communities. This book explores the changing nature of these communities, and reveals their dynamic and complex relationship to the media in a range of countries worldwide. Overall, the book highlights a number of ways in which China’s "going global" policy interacts with other factors in significantly reshaping the content and contours of the diasporic Chinese media landscape. In doing so, this book constitutes a major rethinking of Chinese transnationalism in the twenty-first century.

A leading expert shows how, by learning from refugee teachers and students, we can create for displaced childrenÑand indeed all childrenÑbetter schooling and brighter futures. Half of the worldÕs 26 million refugees are children. Their formal education is disrupted, and their lives are too often dominated by exclusion and uncertainty about what the future holds. Even kids who have the opportunity to attend school face enormous challenges, as they struggle to integrate into unfamiliar societies and educational environments. In Right Where We Belong, Sarah Dryden-Peterson discovers that, where governments and international agencies have been stymied, refugee teachers and students themselves are leading. From open-air classrooms in Uganda to the hallways of high schools in Maine, new visions for refugee education are emerging. Dryden-Peterson introduces us to people like JacquesÑa teacher who created a school for his fellow Congolese refugees in defiance of local lawsÑand Hassan, a Somali refugee navigating the social world of the American teenager. Drawing on more than 600 interviews in twenty-three countries, Dryden-Peterson shows how teachers and students are experimenting with flexible forms of learning. Rather than adopt the unrealistic notion that all will soon return to Ònormal,Ó these schools embrace unfamiliarity, develop studentsÕ adaptiveness, and demonstrate how children, teachers, and community members can build supportive relationships across lines of difference. It turns out that policymakers, activists, and educators have a lot to learn from displaced children and teachers. Their stories point the way to better futures for refugee students and inspire us to reimagine education broadly, so that children everywhere are better prepared to thrive in a diverse and unpredictable world.

An inspirational guide to the 6 core qualities of healthy communities, for anyone looking to build community as a source of connection and a vehicle for social change After two years meeting with different communities in the US, psychologist Lisa Kentgen identified 6 key traits of vibrant, healthy communities that we can all apply to our own lives and networks: Commitment to care Acceptance Diversity Skillful conflict resolution Bonding rituals Hospitality Each chapter focuses on one of these traits, highlighting a particular community as a case study of how it can be put into practice. You’ll learn about a wide range of successful community models, including a tiny-home village for people who had been chronically houseless in Austin, Texas; a study circle to build connection between Native and non-Native people in a small town in South Dakota; a 500-member community choir in Columbus, Ohio; and a Buddhist center in Barre, Massachusetts committed to bringing greater diversity to the Dharma. Throughout the book, you’ll reflect: How can we cultivate these traits of vibrant community in our own lives? What would it look like to prioritize caring and acceptance in our interactions with others? How can we create a climate of true inclusivity, one where our differences both challenge and strengthen us? How can we learn to feel more comfortable with tension and acquire the skills to move through conflict toward creative solutions? What would happen if we incorporated meaningful rituals into our communities and made a point of celebrating each other? With intention and practice, we can transform our social relationships and build communities that appreciate difference, encourage authentic expression, and foster an environment of belonging and mutual care. This book will inspire you to make the transformative leap from “me” to “we,” creating communal, loving spaces in which to connect--and thrive--together.

James Greenaway offers a philosophical guide to understanding, affirming, and valuing the significance of belonging across personal, political, and historical dimensions of existence. A sense of belonging is one of the most meaningful experiences of anyone’s life. Inversely, the discovery that one does not belong can be one of the most upsetting experiences. In A Philosophy of Belonging, Greenaway treats the notion of belonging as an intrinsically philosophical one. After all, belonging raises intense questions of personal self-understanding, identity, mortality, and longing; it confronts interpersonal, sociopolitical, and historical problems; and it probes our relationship with both the knowable world and transcendent mystery. Experiences of alienation, exclusion, and despair become conspicuous only because we are already moved by a primordial desire to belong. Greenaway presents a hermeneutical framework that brings the intelligibility of belonging into focus and discusses the works of various representative thinkers in light of this hermeneutic. The study is divided into two main parts, “Presence” and “Communion.” In the first, Greenaway considers the abiding presence of the cosmos as the context of personhood and the world, followed by the presence of persons to themselves and others by way of consciousness and embodiment, culminating in a discussion of the unrestricted horizon of meaning that love makes present in persons. In the second part, belonging in community is explored as a crucial type of communion that is both politically and historically structured. Moreover, communion has direction and a quality of sacredness that offers itself for consideration. Greenaway concludes with a discussion of the consequences of refusing presence and communion, and what is involved in the repudiation of belonging.

For the Enneagram enthusiast looking to deepen their transformation, The Enneagram of Belonging offers an enlightening, enriching path forward. eBook EXCLUSIVE: 45+ COLOR illustrations to provide greater depth of understanding. Many have discovered the Enneagram to be a powerful tool for self-understanding, yet knowing ourselves doesn't necessarily mean we accept ourselves. Most of us tend to curate the personality of our type: leading with the traits we perceive as positive and sidelining the traits that cause us shame. But what if it all belonged? Rather than furthering our own fragmentation, what if we dared to make peace with the whole of who we are with bold compassion? The Enneagram of Belonging is your guide to this essential journey. While most contemporary Enneagram books stop at the descriptions of the nine types, Enneagram teacher and The Sacred Enneagram bestselling author Chris Heuertz uncovers the missing link in our journey of living into our true self: radical self-compassion that can bring us back to belonging. Rather than get stuck on stereotypes or curated personality, Heuertz proposes we develop an honest relationship with our type, confronting our "inner dragons," practicing self-compassion, and thereby coming to fully belong to ourselves--and, ultimately, to love itself. In this in-depth examination of the Enneagram of Personality, you will discover: A fresh, compassionate way of understanding your childhood wound, which Heuertz reframes as your Kidlife Crisis Your unique subtype and how this colors your dominant type, plus how to work with your Enneagram instinct Practical insight to help you find freedom from your type's Passions and Fixations Your personalized path back to belonging, as you come home to your true self . . . and much more. As a masterful mapmaker and trailblazer of grace, Heuertz casts a vision for how we can create a better world. The truth is how we treat ourselves is how we treat others, so let's start with compassion, and let this outflow into our relationships, communities, and world.

Decades of theory, research, and practice have singled out sense of belonging (in its many derivative forms) as a pivotal component of healthy development: psychologically, socially, culturally, academically. The human need for belonging, and therefore its essential nature, have been well established across multiple arenas. Despite growth in this field, answers to the barriers to belonging among marginalized groups and contexts remain especially elusive. For decades, this work was anchored primarily in dominant, whitestream lenses and contexts. Therefore, the authors attempt here to highlight the responsibilities of systems and individual actors to meaningfully adapt and intentionally make space for belonging for all. Within that we advocate for the inclusion and preservation of culture, identity, and voice, and reframe belonging as a fundamental human right. Moreover, the authors draw on insights and generate implications across multiple fields (education, psychology, sociology, counseling, cultural foundations, and community work). Considering belonging through a critical, equitable, culturally-sustaining perspective, while simultaneously identifying settings where more attention to barriers to belonging is needed, is a non-negotiable element of moving the work of positive human development forward.

Do you struggle with feeling like an impostor in your own leadership? Do you carry a secret anxiety about being revealed as a fraud? We all long to belong, especially those in positions of leadership. But deeply rooted shame can keep leaders from connecting authentically and vulnerably. Reverend Will van der Hart and Dr. Rob Waller—an experienced church leader and respected psychiatrist—integrate the story of Scripture with the science behind mental health, offering real steps for transformation. When leaders know that they belong to God—when they develop a deep sense of security in Him—they can overcome constricting shame and lead with confidence. Offering a psychological and biblical response to one of the most persistent problems in leadership, The Power of Belonging is a unique resource to help you build success from your sense of security, allowing your unique leadership gifts to flourish and grow. Each chapter includes study guide questions for group or individual use.