Home and belonging: what do these mean to you?
The Home Project has focused our efforts on challenging the preconceived notions of home and belonging that have become so innate to our existence as human beings. Such definitions of home and belonging have guided us through the ambiguity of existing in a nation, and adhering to structural beliefs of who belongs, who does not belong, how to belong and how not to belong. In terms of research, our focus has been on navigating the last decade or so of literature within the muddled and confusing themes of nationalism, borders, fascism, citizenship as connected to, or intersecting with, ideas of home. What I have noticed is that these topics of home, belonging, nationalism, etcetera, have taken up significant space in the research and literature. However, there is very little discussion about how these themes connect to home and belonging. It seems to be something that is “just because”.
There is no place like home. Home is where the heart is. Home is where mom is; home is where you are. Search “what is home” on the internet and those are the majority of the interpretations, meanings, and quotes to hang on the wall that you will find. Conversely, the definitions of “home” that you will find are as follows:
Noun
The place where one lives permanently, especially as a member of a family or household.
Adjective
Relating to the place one lives.
Adverb
To or at the place where one lives.
The literature says one thing: home is ambiguous and uncertain. The definitions say another: home is concrete and structural. But what do we think? Surely, we must have a home. We must belong somewhere. It is not difficult to read the literature and get a general idea of the narrative surrounding these themes, but this of course does not always translate to what people experience in their everyday life. I have spent countless hours reading article after article written by one PhD or another, but I wanted to step outside the literature and get an idea of how people feel about these themes, and not just base my perception on what the words say.
I am very fortunate to be surrounded by a wide variety of people from all different walks of life. I am also lucky to work at an immigration law firm, where I have had the pleasure of working with the “movers” of the world; the migrants. So, I spent some time asking people around me about home and belonging and what it means to them. I gave them little to no information about nationalism and borders and citizenship and the other topics that we have been focused on. I wanted to know, wholeheartedly, without bias, what “home” meant to them. These are some answers I received:
“Home for me is the place of origin of my parents and the place for which I hold a citizenship. It is the place that gives me rights and treats me equally to other citizens. It is where my immediate family (my parents) are. It is not where I own property or belongings. It's less about materials for me. It's more about feeling safe, secure, and protected.”
“Home is a sense of belonging and contentment for me. It comes from being with family. Having a sense of security and freedom all contribute to the feeling of belonging and contentment.”
“Home means safety, life, settlement.”
“A place where I feel at home in. I feel comfortable, safe, at peace, and where I want to live.”
While I was most interested in the perspectives of the more “abnormal” situations (migrants, dual citizens, citizens by descent, former stateless individuals, indigenous people, etcetera), I asked everyone I came in contact with; what does “home” mean to you? Generally speaking, the consensus was fairly straight forward; home is safety, home is security, home is where my family is. I then took these statements, and I compared them to the literature that I have spent hours reading. It was no surprise to me that no one I spoke with said; “home is where I have citizenship” or “home is where I speak the language”. For most people, home means something that is intangible. It isn’t a piece of paper that says you belong; nor an assigned status, passport, property, or national identity. Home simply, is. And this is, of course, what we are building upon. As Dr. Tataryn notes, '“The pursuit of home is a search for grounding. Are we prepared for this grounding to be intangible? Perhaps many people already live this way, but to admit it is to contradict modernity, contradict the progress, propertied, citizenship narrative of the modern world.” Building a philosophy of home and discussing it in this way allows us to challenge the structural foundations of home and belonging. It allows us to question modern political and legal order. It allows us to navigate home and belonging in a way that has not been done before; in a way that focuses on the pursuit of home, the feeling of home, the ambiguity of home and the desire for home.
By Chloe Talarico. 2021. All Rights Reserved.
