Belonging

Reviews / Votes

"A well-written and wide-ranging overview of many important ideas about belonging." Journal of Social Policy "A thought-provoking book on fundamentally important issues." Sociology "A rich, sound and consistent book within the classical political science tradition." Journal of Catalan Intellectual History "In Belonging Professor Guibernau skilfully deconstructs the many differing elements that determine the individual's identity. In a world where conflicting trends, tendencies and tensions compete to define us, it is a timely analysis of the increasing complexities influencing much of the contemporary human predicament. It will become a standard work on the subject." Lord Smith of Clifton "Montserrat Guibernau reformulates the concept of belonging through an in-depth exploration of mechanisms of solidarity and psychological connections between citizens and communities. The author takes us beyond debates on national identity and nationalism by deepening our understanding of loyalty, freedom and trust - three dimensions that have been neglected for too long by social scientists and political authorities - in divided polities. This book is theorerically rich and highly accessible." Alain Gagnon, Université du Québec à Montréal "How to define and interpret the relationship between the individual and community? Guibernau demonstrates possibilities of new understanding of this almost secular problem by introducing the newly defined term belonging in mutual tension with identification and nationalism. Theoretical reflections are connected with pressing political problems of our times. This approach is rich on inspiration and intellectual challenge for all social sciences." Miroslav Hroch, Charles University, Prague