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Purpose – In this chapter I engage with central debates in sociology regarding ways of thinking about identity, belonging and diversity. The purpose is to provide a critical engagement with the problems involved, at both a conceptual and political level and to suggest ways forward.

Approach – I critically examine and compare the notions of belonging and identity, both as conceptual tools and how they are embedded in political discourses, particularly on issues of diversity. I also examine diversity and superdiversity and propose a translocational lens as a useful means for rethinking the issues involved, both conceptually and politically.

Findings – Belonging and identity can be seen as part of the same ‘family’ of concepts, and while both are used politically in similar ways, belonging enables a greater engagement with place and location and the structural and contextual facets of social life. Notions of diversity and superdiversity are highly normative, and an intersectional and translocational analysis is proposed.

Social Implications – It is suggested that dominant notions of belonging, identity and diversity essentialize and perpetuate social boundaries of otherness and that those policies that use such notions, particularly integration policies, fail to address issues of participation, access and parity, which are necessary for the development of an inclusionary society.

Originality – The chapter engages critically with important issues of theory and practice and contributes to the development of theoretical tools for understanding central issues of social and political debate. It develops a ‘translocational’ lens for understanding social divisions in society.

Social inclusion incorporates attitudes, expectations and perceptions about what it means to belong to a group. Belonging is embedded in personal beliefs and social structures that set forth criteria that determine how individuals and groups are accorded value and esteem. This chapter explores the constructs of social inclusion, exclusion and belonging with regard to persons in general and more specifically children with disability. It examines the importance of belonging and social inclusion to academic and psychosocial well-being and the effects of stigmatization and exclusion on self-perception, agency and voice. The chapter concludes with a number of evidence-based strategies for creating classrooms, schools and communities in which all are valued, welcomed and belong.

In this chapter, we argue that beyond the self-enhancement motive (i.e., the desire for a positive identity), other identity motives play a significant, yet underspecified role in homogeneous and diverse groups. In particular, we explore how the desire for self-verification, belonging, and distinctiveness offer alternative and, at times, even contradictory explanations for findings typically attributed to self-enhancement. We also consider the ways in which these motives are influenced in homogenous and diverse groups and the effects they have on group processes and performance. Through our examination, we aim to stimulate research on the role of multiple identity motives in homogenous and diverse groups.

To explore and examine cultural differences in the consumer attitudes toward social media.

Internet survey.

The influence of culture toward the consumer attitudes in social media may be less salient compared with other consumer behaviors.

This study is exploratory in nature.

To encourage managers to revisit the issue of globalization versus localization, particularly in the domain of social media.

This study is one of the first attempts in exploring cultural differences in the consumer behavior of social media.

The changing demographics of the United States are reflected in the changing faces in universities and colleges across the nation. However, universities and colleges, including academic libraries, are still reacting as opposed to being proactive to these changes in their campuses. Academic libraries especially in the area of library resources are still grappling with the question of “How can we diversify our library collections?” In this chapter, the author examines the idea that one of the ways to reflect demographics on campus is for academic libraries to explore the concept of “belongingness” – the idea that students are seeing themselves on campus. This examination of belongingness hopes to answer the lack of representation of minority students in library collections through identifying gaps in the collection and acquiring diverse books and other resources. For minority students to see themselves in higher education institutions, academic libraries need to be proactive in helping students “belong” on campus.

Internationalisation of education is often regarded as preparing students to work in a globalised world. Our graduates are not only workers and consumers of the increasingly global labour market, but they are also people, friends, parents, colleagues, neighbours, partners, voters and (global) citizens. Attitudes towards oneself and other people, and the underlying values that these attitudes are based on, poses challenges to quality education. Education in the context of globalisation needs to be inclusive and equitable in order to be of quality (United Nations, 2015), but what does this look like in practice? What does it require of students, and for those responsible for designing education? Do students and teachers have the possibility to reflect on and conceptualise the realities they live in? Apart from knowledge and technical skills, what growth mindset do students and teachers need in order to navigate international and intercultural perspectives responsibly and ethically?

This chapter proposes to address these questions through the prism of four teachers in the field of global health education. The students they teach and interact with, as well as their needs as active citizens in a globalised world, will provide the backdrop for further reflection. The personal journeys of the authors between countries, disciplines, professions, learning and teaching will thus be conceptualised as experiences continuously being reconstructed and deconstructed in the classroom through processes of being, belonging and becoming. It is argued that these processes can be used as resources to create inclusive and equitable quality education.

Mental illness amongst students in higher education has increased in recent years. Several contributing factors have been identified, including the growing number of students with pre-existing problems who are pursuing university and the fact that emerging adulthood is a time of developmental vulnerability to social pressures. Other key factors include academic pressure, the financial burden of student debt, and increasing uncertainty around making a successful transition to the workplace. These pressures are often more pronounced for minority students – in particular ethnic and sexual minority students. Peer support and connectedness to school have been identified as key areas for building protective factors for positive mental health outcomes and lower rates of health-risk behaviors. Many higher education institutions also offer work-integrated learning programs (WIL) to help ease students’ financial burden and increase their level of employability. However, participation in WIL may impact on students’ academic and social support networks. For instance, programs in which students participate in off-campus work placements (i.e., cooperative education) can cause disruption in students’ connectedness to school and their perceived level of social support. This chapter examines the intensification of mental health problems on campus and explores the importance of sense of belonging and social support as protective factors. Furthermore, the chapter explores how WIL can both protect and hinder students’ mental health and wellbeing and examines current evidence for interventions that can help students prepare for their school-to-work transition.

Purpose: The aim of the chapter is the analysis of the processes of inclusion and/or exclusion experienced by Italian and immigrant students who live in rural areas. This chapter specifically focuses on the forms of belonging that they develop in their districts and at school.

Study approach: The analysis is based on a mixed methods study that was carried out in a middle school of a rural town in Central Italy. For the research, a focus group was first carried out with middle school students, then a semi-structured questionnaire was administered to the students. Privileged witnesses (e.g., school managers, people working for voluntary associations, social service operators, political actors) were also interviewed. Their interviews provided additional information about the territory under study.

Findings: Findings indicate that school reproduces processes of stigma and marginality for immigrant school students. This is best illustrated through their sense of belonging to the district in which they live and the school where they attend.

Originality: This study analyzes the lives of young migrants and their Italian peers who live in a rural area of Italy. Additionally, it considers the processes that schools play in promoting inclusion and exclusion among young migrants and Italians. This work contributes to the literature on children and youth migrants, as well as the sociology of education. It motivates future research on the experiences of life and schooling among migrants who live in rural communities.

In the face of widespread opposition and hostility, trans and nonbinary athletes, from recreational to professional levels, continue to resist exclusion and oppression by daring to compete, participate and play. The long-standing binary thinking that characterizes sport poses particular challenges for trans women, who are positioned by advocates of trans exclusion as an alleged threat to women's sport.

As context for this discussion, Lenskyj examines how social psychologists have contributed to understandings of belonging and community and the implications for trans and nonbinary athletes' rights to share the benefits that sport offers. The concept of ‘deliberative freedoms’ – including freedom to live one's life without having others view certain traits as ‘costs’ – provides a framework for investigating resistance.

Greey then draws on a sociological understanding of gender to argue that inclusion is not synonymous with belonging. Belonging for trans athletes, Greey argues, requires more than the ‘letter of the law.’ Belonging requires recognition from teammates, coaches and other sport community members. An overview of terminology is presented, followed by an overview of chapters, summarizing the key themes and findings.