Belonging can, indeed should, be a choice, according to Montserrat Guibernau, Professor of Politics at Queen Mary, University of London. In her most recent book, Belonging, she presents what she says is an original aspect of theories to date on belonging, namely that ‘through the process of choosing, belonging is turned into a consequence of free will, which implies a degree of personal commitment absent from assigned forms of membership where individuals are “expected to” conform to a series of norms, habits and behaviours in the name of tradition’ (p. 2).

The book is structured into seven chapters: Identity as a Political Instrument; Belonging by Choice; Freedom and Constraint; The New Radical Right and the Resurgence of Authoritarian Politics; The Rituals of Belonging; Loyalty, Citizenship and the Nation; Emotion and Political Mobilization.

In the Introduction, the book is presented as a counter-argument to prevalent theories of individualism in modern society. It refers to (an idealised) pre-individualistic society, giving way to ‘modern’, capitalist societies where ‘the individual is now free from the bonds typical of pre-individualist society – nature, church and the absolutist state – and could enjoy the advantages of independence and rationality’ (p. 16). Further, it says that ‘Western societies are profoundly individualistic’ (p. 22) and then offers an antidote: belonging by choice. By making such a choice, people can transcend their differences and divisions through a shared sense of solidarity. That is not, as the book details, an easy task: belonging inevitably includes excluding.

In reviewing several key theorists who have studied freedom (Kant, Foucault, Fromm), the author carries through the theme of choice by considering in rich and interesting detail ‘the burden of freedom’ (p. 51). The act of choosing may appear empowering, but also entails loss of the options now abandoned − in choosing to belong to a group, the individual surrenders some freedoms in exchange for the benefits of belonging. Those who do not enjoy those benefits may acquire other forms of dependence, shown through addictions to work, drugs, sex, and the internet, all of which mask low self-esteem and intimacy problems. The author states (p. 71), with a neat counter-intuitive twist, that ‘in recent years two new forms of dependence have emerged in modern societies’ (p. 71): submission to a leader and compulsive conformity. Such forms of obedience to an authority, political ideology or religious faith display a need for security and purpose. We see now democracy being downgraded with the rise of a new radical right and political and religious fundamentalism. The book provides a list of types of new radical right parties represented in European parliaments, from Austria's Freedom Party to the UK's British National Party, as groups favouring market capitalism as strongly as they oppose non-white immigrants. Those parties garner support from those who crave a sense of belonging to a collective often embodied as a nation.

From the idea of belonging to a nation follows a renewed attraction to rituals and their attendant symbols, representing ideas and values that act to strengthen certain forms of power. Belonging to a group requires representation through symbols which are then used in rituals, some of which bind, and others exclude. The book's examples range from the French Revolution, Francoist Spain, the Arab Spring and youth ‘gangs’. It then examines the concept of loyalty and describes a kind of ‘loyalty by choice’ shown by a devotion to act so strongly as to lift people out of otherwise self-interested lives. This is different from loyalty forced by authoritarianism and not free will. One contemporary form of loyalty is the emotional commitment to a nation. Envisaging the nation as community is the main feature of nationalism, defined by five characteristics: a sense of belonging to a distinctive community, a shared history, a shared culture, attachment to a clearly demarcated territory and a desire to act together towards a common fate – all of which may be imagined and reinvented according to time and circumstance. Loyalty is today diminished in conditions of market capitalism, when people must compete to survive and therefore not trust each other.

In the chapter on ‘Emotion and Political Mobilization’ an argument is advanced that the emotional aspect of belonging is a powerful trigger to social action, including political mobilisation. That may be so, but I do not agree with the sweeping statement that social science neglects emotion other than through Talcott Parsons. From the time of Marx and later Weber (from whom we get Parsons), ideas of alienation and rationalisation have pervaded social science. In my own work, I have tried to identify key disciplinary theories about belonging and to show the impact of belonging on, specifically, public policy arising from census questions (Day, Reference Day2011). There are quotes in Guibernau's book from Anthony Cohen, Fredrik (not Thomas, as is listed) Barth, Richard Jenkins and Anthony Giddens, for example, but these tend to be sprinkled in ways disconnected from their contexts. Surprisingly, the formative work of Arlie Hochschild is absent, and yet she has powerfully influenced social scientists who recognise the contribution of (gendered) emotional labour.

The conclusion summarises each chapter in order and provides an excellent summary of what is a well-written and wide-ranging overview of many important ideas about belonging. And yet, it has a normative rather than theoretical or practical agenda: people should choose to belong, exercising a degree of free will and choice predicated on the very premise of individualism that the thesis apparently works against. Although the author mentions occasionally that not everyone is equally placed to exercise choice, the fiction is generally maintained that somehow we all are equally advantaged and that our choosing would be the product of free will, rather than arising principally from the collective sentiments and dispositions already deeply embedded.