Abstract
Nira Yuval-Davis has written an important book on the politics of belonging. As a result of her anti-racist, socialist version of feminist political commitment she has always approached the issues of gender and gender relations intersectionally; this stands as a key feature of her work overall and of this particular book.
The Politics of Belonging is divided into six key chapters and a conclusion. It offers a comprehensive account of different theories of globalization, citizenship and the state, as well as the national, the religious, the cosmopolitan and the caring questions. Yuval-Davis thus provides a mapping of the ‘politics of belonging’ applied to different environments and she does it with exquisite sophistication and attention to detail by including a wide range of theories and authors.
She establishes a clear-cut distinction between ‘belonging’ and ‘the politics of belonging’. In her view, the former is related to the emotional dimension while the latter refers to specific political projects aimed at constructing belonging to particular collectivities. I agree with her in emphasizing the dynamic nature of belonging as well as the shifting nature of boundaries resulting in the inclusion or exclusion of particular people by those who have the power to do so.
Her section on the ‘three British political projects of belonging’ and the distinction she establishes between ‘ethnic’ and ‘racial’ collectivities are highly relevant; ‘ethnic’ collectivities deals with the recognition of difference and specificity of culture and tradition, while ‘racial’ collectivities primarily refers to the fixating and reifying of the boundaries of difference.
The section on nations and nationalism is primarily descriptive, but again comprehensive. Her distinction between nations and nation-states as well as homelands lacks a clear-cut distinction between three key concepts, those of nation (cultural community), state (political institution) and nationalism (political doctrine and sentiment of belonging). It also neglects the current rise of what I refer to as ‘emancipatory nationalism’ (Guibernau, 2014) – this is a democratic type of nationalism emerging in nations included within larger states who do not identify with them, do not feel represented by the state of which they are a part and do not feel politically and culturally recognized as nations by the state containing them.
In my view, a further dimension indispensable to understand belonging – and which is absent in this book – refers to the power of symbolism and ritual. Symbols embody entities such as the nation, by providing them with distinct attributes destined to make them unique. In a similar manner, belonging to a faith is also expressed through symbolism and ritual. Symbols are necessary to legitimize and strengthen political power; however, symbols are also indispensable in processes aimed to challenge and overthrow a particular political order. In such situations, the emerging new elite’s success in attaining and consolidating power will depend, to a considerable degree, on their ability to either radically challenge and replace old symbols by new ones, or to imbue old symbols with a different meaning akin to supporting the emerging status quo.
Belonging to a group or community can only be represented through symbolism and ritual. In turn, symbols only have value, meaning and power for those who are able to recognize what they stand for. The richness and complexity of symbols tolerate a degree of ambiguity in their definition, one that allows for a certain measure of emotional creativity on behalf of individuals constructing their own sense of belonging. Symbols are powerful because they are able to prompt strong emotions and emotions stand as a powerful trigger for social action, including political mobilization. Among the most potent symbols are those that indicate belonging to a particular group, be it the nation, a faith, or any other group or community.
The most original part of Nira Yuval-Davis’ book considers what she refers to as the ‘ethics of care’ as a specific feminist political project of belonging, which developed as an attempt to demonstrate and transcend gendered constructions of belonging. She examines feminist ethics of care and feminist transversal dialogical politics and argues that ‘a feminist political project of belonging should be based on transversal “rooting”, “shifting ”, mutual respect and mutual trust without neglecting to reflect upon the relevance of power. I find of particular interest the book’s study of the continuity and the changes taking place within contested political projects of belonging, reflecting both the continuity and the changes within these projects. In Yuval-Davis’ words: ‘it is not, or not just, ideological and emotional “consciousness-raising”, which homogenizes discourse, but specific relations of power’.