Black bodies in/out of place? Afrocentric perspectives and/on racialised belonging in Australia

Abstract

Global movements of people have produced socio-cultural environments of increasing racial diversity, in which issues of belonging abound. Yet, within research and discussion of how migrants construct a sense of belonging, the role that experiences of racism play in their constructions and feelings of belonging have not been centred or fully explored. Using 'Everyday Racism' as a conceptual framework, we draw on data from our study on identity and belonging among skilled Black African migrants in Australia to explore Afrocentric perspectives on belonging, which centre experiences of racism. These Afrocentric perspectives expose the complexity and contested nature of belonging when constructed within narratives of subjective experiences of racism. We propose understanding this as a typology of belonging - 'fractured belonging' - with four dimensions: contestation, negotiation, ambivalence and compromise (for spacio-temporal comfort). Ultimately, our article's main purpose is to argue for more nuanced understandings of this 'fractured belonging' among Black African migrant in Australia, and its implications for their subjective realities.