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Liminal Belonging in El Nuevo South : The Geographies of Inclusion and Exclusion for Hispanic Young Adults within Northwest Arkansas *
Author(s) -
Escobar Maria Andrea
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
rural sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.083
H-Index - 65
eISSN - 1549-0831
pISSN - 0036-0112
DOI - 10.1111/ruso.12387
Subject(s) - liminality , rurality , urbanity , inclusion–exclusion principle , ethnic group , inclusion (mineral) , race (biology) , gender studies , sociology , immigration , social exclusion , citizenship , geography , rural area , anthropology , political science , archaeology , civil engineering , politics , law , engineering
Based on interviews with thirty‐five Hispanic young adults in northwest Arkansas, this research investigates experiences of social and emplaced community belonging as contradictory, liminal, and influenced by racial, locational, and legal factors. Through this analysis, I articulate and develop the concept of “liminal belonging” to capture Hispanic young adults' geographically contingent and unsteady or fluctuating sense of belonging that is shaped by oscillating experiences of exclusion and inclusion. This study contributes to social science research on immigration, race/ethnicity, place, and rurality/urbanity by revealing how race, place, legal status, belonging, and symbols of safe and unsafe places are intimately intertwined within the daily experiences of 1.5 and second‐generation Hispanic young adults.