On the shifting (ir)relevance of national and ethnic identifications in urban children’s everyday lives

ABSTRACT

Based on three rounds of in-depth interviews, this article discusses the various ways in which children negotiate ethnic and national identities in a majority-minority city. I examine which identity labels children identify with, which relevance they attach to those labels, how they define these inclusively or exclusively and what these labels reveal about their senses of belonging. Children negotiate identity in myriad and creative ways and, while doing so, challenge public and political discourses by creating inclusive categories which transcend ethnic or national boundaries. I further show how, approximately 20 months after the first research round, the children retrospectively reflect on their self-identifications, may alter their initially chosen identity labels, and critically question the importance they once attached to those identities. The results contribute to a deeper understanding of children’s reflexivity and agency while dealing with their identity in a super-diverse environment.

KEYWORDS:

• Belonging
• boundary-making
• children’s reflexivity
• ethnic identity
• super-diversity
• dual identities

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek [grant number 1112819N].