AbstractThis paper reflects on the

Abstract
This paper reflects on the understanding of contemporary forms of identity
construction within the fields of ethnicity, migration and transnational population
movements. It casts a critical eye on new forms of identity hailed by the related
notions of diaspora, hybridity and cosmopolitanism. The paper also reflects on the
concept of intersectionality which provides a more integrated analysis of identity
formation by arguing for the inter-connections between social divisions, such as those
of gender, ethnicity and class. The paper argues that the concept ‘translocational
positionality’ (see Anthias 2001, 2002a, 2002b, 2005, 2006, 2007) is a useful means
of addressing some of the difficulties identified within these approaches. This concept
addresses issues of identity in terms of locations which are not fixed but are context,
meaning and time related and which therefore involve shifts and contradictions. It
thereby provides an intersectional framing for the understanding of belonging. As an
intersectional frame it moves away from the idea of given ‘groups’ or ‘categories’ of
gender, ethnicity and class, which then intersect (a particular concern of some
intersectionality frameworks), and instead pays much more attention to social
locations and processes which are broader than those signalled by this.
Keywords: belonging, transnational, intersectionality, translocational positionality
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