Anchoring, feelings of belonging, and the complex identities of migrant teenagers in Slovenia

Abstract

AbstractThe article addresses the processes of becoming of migrant teenagers in Slovenia, both those with first‐hand experience of migration and those with a migrant background. It draws upon a collection of 30 autobiographical stories and the application of facet methodology to their analysis. The article contributes to both theoretical and empirical understandings of migrant teenagers’ processes of becoming through the analytical concepts of anchoring, identity, and belonging; these are treated as different facets, each of which sets a different perspective on the research issue. The experiences of migrant teenagers differ from those of adults because they experience the transition to adulthood alongside their geographical displacement at one and the same time. Our analysis of the processes of anchoring, developing a sense of belonging, the (re)construction of an ethnic/cultural identity as well as transculturation and hybridization processes reveals the complexity and multidimensionality of this research issue.