Belonging and the uses of difference: young people in Australian urban multiculture

ABSTRACT

This paper examines how young people of migrant background in Australia make meaning of cultural, ethnic and racial difference to work out belonging in times of super-diversity. It asks what functions difference still has for a generation growing up within conditions of proliferating diversity that demand and accommodate competing constructions of cultural identities. It suggests that young people's narratives about difference depend on the space of belonging, and explores how young people use difference differently depending on whether they are articulating membership in the local community, the nation or youth culture.

KEYWORDS:

• Youth
• difference
• belonging
• gender
• diversity
• Australian multiculturalism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.