Belonging

From the moment we emerge from the womb, we begin seeking where and with whom we belong. This pursuit is never-ending and continues, to varying degrees, until we depart this existence. How we navigate that process shapes our identities, influences our relationships, and defines the sense of purpose we carry through life.

In 1995, the psychologists Roy F. Baumeister and Mark R. Leary published a paper that identified belonging as an inherent human need rather than a desire.(2) The drive to create “interpersonal bonds” is so paramount to our livelihood that the lack of such social connections can result in a decline in mental and physical health. [3] Biobehavioral synchrony reinforces how the human body is biologically programmed
for belonging. Because a fetus’s heartbeat coincides with that of the mother, a baby’s brain activity and hormones reflect those of their caregiver upon birth. (4) This attachment, present in the nascent stage of a person’s development, lays the groundwork for empathy.(5)

The amount of empathy we feel is dependent on how much we believe we belong within our social groups.(6) If belonging is an important marker that stimulates emotional satisfaction in our relationships and provides us with the chance to express ourselves freely, then othering is a process that pushes us into the realms of discontent and exclusion.
John a. powell and Stephen Menendian from the Othering and Belonging Institute define othering “as a set of dynamics, processes, and structures that engender marginality and persistent inequality across any of the full range of human difference based on group identities.”(7)

Whereas belonging makes us feel like valued members in society, othering leads us to the conclusion that our voice is insignificant. We continuously seek out and create moments of belonging in our lives; yet we design communities, cultural frameworks, and governance systems that perpetuate discrimination and limit opportunities for belonging. This duality is experienced every day by people living under US sovereignty. The following essays, conversations, and personal accounts examine the multifaceted aspects of belonging in the twenty-first century.

NOTES:

(1) john a. powell and Stephen Menendian, “The Problem of Othering: Towards Inclusiveness and Belonging,” Othering & Belonging: Expanding the Circle of Human Concern 1, no. 1 (2016): 14–39,
https://www.otheringandbelonging.org/the-problem-of-othering/.

(2) “The Need to Belong: Desire for Interpersonal Attachments as a Fundamental Human Motivation,” Psychological Bulletin 117, no. 3 (1995): 497–529.

(3) Kelly-Ann Allen et al., “The Need to Belong: A Deep Dive into the Origins, Implications, and Future of a Foundational Construct,” Educational Psychology Review 34, no. 2 (2022): 1138.

(4) Over Zero and the American Immigration Council, The Belonging Barometer: The State of Belonging in America, rev. ed. (2024), 36,
https://www.projectoverzero.org/media-and-publications/belongingbarometer.

(5) Ibid., 2–3.

(6) powell and Menendian, “The Problem of Othering,” 24.

(7) Ibid., 17.

Excerpt from  Making Home: Belonging, Memory, and Utopia in the 21st Century, (Cooper Hewitt |  The MIT Press, 2025) published in companion with  Making Home—Smithsonian Design Triennial  (New York, Nov. 2024-Aug. 2025)