300099 Price of Belonging (S) (WiSe 2017/2018)

During the last two decades belonging advanced as one of the most widespread concept in social sciences. By expressing a basic human desire for social and material attachments (Anthias 2002), belonging commonly evokes positive associations. In contrast, concepts such as ‘perils of belonging’ (Geschiere 2009) and ‘regimes of belonging’ (Pfaff-Czarnecka 2013) reveal the ambiguous character of collective constellations by illuminating the violent politics of exclusion and inclusion. While these ideas are helpful to understand how social boundaries are delineated and safeguarded, the question of what happens after an individual or a collective ‘achieved’ inclusion is still not sufficiently examined. Collective belonging, be it on biological, ethnic, economic or politic grounds, has its ‘price’. ‘Social contracts’ rewarding a person with entitlements and safety confront her simultaneously with claims for loyalty, lifelong commitments, and the limitation of personal freedom. Social incorporation may lead to collisions of social expectations, tensions between individual will and ‘collective good’, and between striving for personal autonomy and for social bonding. Due to the ‘symbolic power’ of belonging, such tensions frequently remain concealed; personal obligations are rarely acknowledged as sacrifices or submissive. Our aim in this class is, therefore, to deepen the understanding of human sacrifice that belonging tacitly implies. We will look into the interior of human bonds that are less about a relationship between the self and a different ‘Other’ and more of a relationship between the self and a distinct ‘Same’, a perspective that will hopefully guide us to the hidden yet scarcely understood spheres of belonging.

Requirements for participation, required level

Since the seminar is an advanced class it is open primarily for MA students.