Bildung, Leistung und Kompetenz

Abstract

This chapter provides a perspective on the possibilities and challenges of using the concept of belonging to understand young people’s experiences and transi- tions. It argues that while the concept of transitions has generated significant research on young people’s lives, the tendency for this approach to focus almost exclusively on education and employment (and the trajectories between these spheres). The concept of belonging, it is suggested, opens up the use of a relational register to enable a more holistic approach to research on young people’s lives. Although the concept of belonging is implicit in many of the traditional theories that underpin youth sociology (for example, Bourdieu), the concept has been more widely used in associated fields (such as the study of citizenship and identity). The chapter argues that as young people are subject to transition regimes that increasingly involve mobility, it is timely to turn to concepts that enable us to understand the subjective and structural aspects of young people’s place.