Belonging' is often overlooked in its relationship to society and social change, and yet it forms the bedrock of how we relate to the world around us. Through the work of Marx, Giddens and Goffman, this book covers the familiar terrain of identity theory, while going beyond it to other sites of identification and social change.

Vanessa May is Lecturer in Sociology at the Morgan Centre for the Study of Relationships and Personal Life, University of Manchester, UK. Her research interests include the self, belonging, lone motherhood, and qualitative and mixed methods. She edited Sociology of Personal Life and has published in journals including Sociology, Sociological Review, International Journal of Research Methods, and Narrative Inquiry.