According to politics and the media, immigration and individualization are driving citizens apart but in neighbourhoods social life is often thriving, depending on the talents of particular citizens or the inventiveness of local institutions. Drawing on quantitative and qualitative research among hundreds of active and less active citizens, and an analysis of a vast array of newspaper articles, this book explores the crafting of citizenship, examining new forms of active citizenship and the actual conditions that hinder social cohesion.

This book addresses prominent debates in Western Europe and the United States on themes as seemingly diverse as national identity and nostalgia, migration and integration, gender relations and 'caring communities'. At the most fundamental level, all of these debates deal with the right to belong and the ability to 'feel at home'. The book examines what has happened to the 'home feelings' of the majority under the influence of the two major revolutions of our times: the gender revolution and increased mobility due to globalization. It analyzes how 'home' has been politicized, examines the risks of this politicization, as well as exploring alternative home-making strategies that aim to transcend the 'logic of identities' where one group's ability to feel at home comes at the expense of other groups.

This book addresses prominent debates in Western Europe and the United States on themes as seemingly diverse as national identity and nostalgia, migration and integration, gender relations and 'caring communities'. At the most fundamental level, all of these debates deal with the right to belong and the ability to 'feel at home'. The book examines what has happened to the 'home feelings' of the majority under the influence of the two major revolutions of our times: the gender revolution and increased mobility due to globalization. It analyzes how 'home' has been politicized, examines the risks of this politicization, as well as exploring alternative home-making strategies that aim to transcend the 'logic of identities' where one group's ability to feel at home comes at the expense of other groups.

According to politics and the media, immigration and individualization drive citizens apart but in neighbourhoods social life is often thriving, depending on the talents of particular citizens or of local institutions. This book examines new forms of active citizenship and the actual conditions that hinder social cohesion.