Description: Belonging is pivotal for healthy development, and yet members of marginalized communities have repeatedly been told they do not belong in majoritized systems and spaces. The authors seek to intentionally critique older definitions of belonging and help generate a new sense of ...
Brief description: Jennifer Nelson is Professor of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at the University of Redlands, USA. She is the author of More than Medicine: A History of the Feminist Women's Health Movement (2015) and Women of Color and the Reproductive Rights Movement (2003).
Review Quotes: "Resisting Barriers to Belonging: Conceptual Critique and Critical Applications serves as a timely reminder that there is much more work to be done - as researchers, community members, and simply as fellow human beings - to establishbelonging as a universal human right. At this time, many people do not feel a sense of belonging as a result of both historical and contemporary barriers. This book forges a path through provocative and thought-provoking ground, making clear that the dominant narratives around belonging and inclusion are not always the only voices, perspectives, and experiences that matter. A core message of Resisting Barriers to Belonging is that everyone has a role to play in empowering other people's stories of belonging. The book is a call to action for us all to take urgent steps to discontinue and disrupt systems and policies that contribute towards the maintenance of harmful barriers to belonging. Resisting Barriers to Belonging is your official invitation to upset the status quo at every level to ensure that all people have equity in their space and place to belong. As the opening quote by Laura I. Rendo´n in the preface to the book puts it: "belonging is a basic, self- evident human right that constitutes the very foundation for our authentic existence as a part of the earth's family". This is a message that should echo through every community, school, workplace and family around the globe." --Kelly-Ann Allen, Faculty of Education, Monash University, Australia