This article explores the concept of belonging in understanding how working-class young people construct themselves as 'subjects of value' in historically high-poverty areas now undergoing complex social class unsettlements and changes in visual repertoires. Dramatic changes to space and place raise questions for our participants regarding belonging as well as the boundaries of respectability and authenticity. Drawing upon empirical data from two case studies, we conceptualize belonging as a process of sensemaking tied to place and value. We find that social class identity and locality play a vibrant role in the shaping of young people's identities. In seeking to understand how social experiences of young people are lived within classed, ethnic and gendered life worlds, we draw on sociological scholarship of youth, place and space. We explore young people's lived experiences in South East London and how they explain these experiences as influencing their subjectivities and sense of belonging.

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This collection has focused on how scholars have engaged with belonging as a discursive and complex process, heavily influenced by history and surroundings. The contributors to the collection have concentrated on how belonging has been operationalised. Each author uses theories associated with belonging to interrogate empirical data of youth living and learning in diverse contexts. The concluding chapter identifies three main overlapping themes related to the study of belonging, youth and identity: belonging as an agentic identity practice, belonging and the importance of place and belonging as negotiated. Looking across the collection, the editors focus on synthesising some commonalities as well as highlighting different approaches currently shaping theoretical approaches to belonging.

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