People, Places, and Belonging: Deepening Our Sense of Community and Identity

By: William Marsiglio

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Synopsis: Place matters – for good and bad. Infinitely diverse in form, place embodies the action settings where social life happens. Often fighting to preserve a sense of group belonging in the process, we design places to reflect our values and interests. With an eye on our rapidly changing world, People, Places, and Belonging explores how social realities at every level are affected by the places we collectively forge across various social domains. The book shows how place-related circumstances can promote personal empowerment, civic engagement, and social and environmental justice. Discussing places that affect personal and social well-being, including homes, communities, vehicles, and the metaverse, William Marsiglio illustrates how a web of social processes involving claims, attachments, rituals, and transitions (CART) structure our experiences in place. The author argues that we can use decision-making principles to enhance our attachments, encourage supportive rituals, smooth out transitions, and manage claims with less conflict and more social justice. Armed with a heightened place consciousness and ethical principles, People, Places, and Belonging ultimately posits that we must individually and collectively build places that enrich our lives, celebrate the communal spirit, and foster social equity and ecological justice.