Doing belonging in early childhood settings in Sweden

Abstract

The aim of this study is to contribute knowledge about the politics of belonging that is embedded in the educational practice of early childhood institutions in Sweden, with the focus on children’s doing of belonging. The research questions are: What appears as important aspects for belonging in everyday children’s interactions in the ECE practice? How are positions and borders for belonging negotiated, produced, and reproduced among the children? Yuval-Davis’s [(2011). Thepolitics of belonging: Intersectional contestations. London: Sage] theory about the politics of belonging is used as a framework. Data consists of 13 h of video-film of interactions among children at two Swedish ECE institutions. The findings show how the doing of belonging involves an ongoing positioning process among the children, and how the borders for being inside or outside the community are continually constructed and reconstructed. One suggestion is to talk about a glimpse or moments of a sense of belonging.