Figurations of belonging – How high-skilled migrants form relations of recognition

Abstract

The search for belonging is universal. Individuals seek comfort, stability and recognition in their relationships and in the social units that organise their lives. The concept of ’belonging’ is often used to capture these dynamics, but we argue that it could be theorised more carefully. Migrants may face a more difficult task in forging relationships of belonging because of the upheaval that cross-border mobility entails. In this paper, we focus specifically on the different figurations of belonging articulated by ’highly skilled migrants’ (HSMs) − a growing category of migrants found in many parts of the world. To inform our analysis, we reconceptualise belonging as shaped by different ’figurations of I-and-We’ (Elias, 1978) and the fundamental need for ’recognition’ (Honneth, 1995). Drawing on 54 interviews with HSM and their partners in Denmark, we illustrate two streams of figurations of belonging − one in their private lives and the other in their professional lives, often operating in concert. These figurations also operate at different scales − local, transnational and/or global − and shape how belonging is initiated, experienced and maintained for individuals who have migrated and may migrate again. The paper contributes by placing belonging on a stronger theoretical footing and by developing more specific articulations of the forms of belonging engaged in by HSMs that are maintained and initiated during processes of spatial mobility.