Thinking through the lens of translocational positionality: an intersectionality frame for understanding identity and belonging

This paper reflects on the understanding of contemp
orary forms of identity
construction within the fields of ethnicity, migrat
ion and transnational population
movements. It casts a critical eye on new forms of
identity hailed by the related
notions of diaspora, hybridity and cosmopolitanism.
The paper also reflects on the
concept of intersectionality which provides a more
integrated analysis of identity
formation by arguing for the inter-connections betw
een social divisions, such as those
of gender, ethnicity and class. The paper argues th
at the concept ‘translocational
positionality’ (see Anthias 2001, 2002a, 2002b, 200
5, 2006, 2007) is a useful means
of addressing some of the difficulties identified w
ithin these approaches. This concept
addresses issues of identity in terms of locations
which are not fixed but are context,
meaning and time related and which therefore involv
e shifts and contradictions. It
thereby provides an intersectional framing for the
understanding of belonging. As an
intersectional frame it moves away from the idea of
given ‘groups’ or ‘categories’ of
gender, ethnicity and class, which then intersect (
a particular concern of some
intersectionality frameworks), and instead pays muc
h more attention to
social
locations and processes
which are broader than those signalled by this.