Programme full

Thursday 16 April 2015 11:00 - 12:30
PAPER SESSION 4
Belonging as a Temporal Experience
May, V.
(University of Manchester)
This paper, exploring belonging as a temporal experience in Mass Observation Project (MOP) accounts, is concerned
with fundamental aspects of the self: narrative, belonging and time. We make sense of who we are by telling stories
about with whom and where we have belonged. In doing so, we also make sense of the passage of time and 'tame' or
humanize the eternity of cosmic time. While theories of time and self (most notably by Bergson and Ricoeur) tend to
posit a universal self that experiences time uniformly, the analysis of the MOP accounts reveals different 'phases' in
how people make sense of time across the life course which are integral to understanding how belonging is
experienced and narrated. The aspects of belonging as a temporal experience that the MOP writers reflect upon vary
depending on where they find themselves along the continuum between birth and (expected) death. Younger writers
transitioning to adulthood are concerned with the changes that their sense of belonging is undergoing, while those in
middle age ponder the difference between enduring versus temporary belonging. In turn, the older writers contrast
here/there and now/then, often evoking a kind of nostalgic 'belonging from afar'. The MOP accounts thus illustrate not
only how the present acts as a pivot between the past and the present, but also how, depending on a person's
position on their (expected) lifecourse, their gaze is pivoted towards the future or the past, or different combinations of
these, which in turn influences how they experience belonging.
Families and Relationships 2
W828, HAMISH WOOD BUILDING
How are You? Young People's Narratives on Support in Their Everyday Lives
Davidson, E., Whittaker, L.
(University of Edinburgh)
This paper will explore the diverse ways 'disadvantaged' young people deal with social challenges in their everyday
lives and, in particular, the role that support has within this. It draws on the findings of a collaborative project between
the University of Edinburgh and award winning charity, Columba 1400. The project, 'Young People and their Future
Selves' combined biographical interviews with 'video diary' footage filmed by young people who participated in
Columba 1400's residential and community support programme, the 'Leadership Academy'. Interviewed as young
adults, the research asked participants to reflect on the various forms of support they received growing up, and how (if
at all) this shaped their pathways into adulthood - their 'future self'.
The paper shows that young people's experiences of support were inherently embedded within a wider social, cultural
and normative context. Support, in other words, did not occur in a vacuum but was one of the many interacting
components shaping young people's choices, chances and opportunities. The effectiveness of formal support
provision was, therefore, not only dependent on its form, but also on when, how and where it was provided. The
research also found that the characteristics participants associated with 'good' support – such as intimacy, emotion
and genuine concern - were relational. These were frequently absent from young adult's narratives about their own
experiences of support; an absence which impacted negatively on young people's future direction and sense of
identity as they moved into adulthood.
What Can We Learn from Queer Youth about Kinship, Resilience and Wellbeing?
Speirs, J.
(University of Glasgow)
Persistent discrimination and everyday homophobia has many negative impacts on the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual,
transgender, queer, questioning and asexual (LGBTQQA) youth. In this context, how do these young people get by
and manage to create positive, resilient, lives for themselves and each other?
This paper challenges vulnerability discourses that dominate the field. It presents findings from an ethnographic study
of 20 LGBTQQA youth that used an innovative methodology to engage with the intertwined nature of online and offline
and capture diverse fragments of young people's experiences. The study's methodology combined participants' blogs
and diaries with interviews and online participant observation. Young people in Scotland were recruited in person,
whilst international participants took part online. The analysis sought to go beyond what can be spoken to represent
narratives of the everyday.
BSA Annual Conference 2015 150
Glasgow Caledonian University