Language and belonging across time and space

Young adolescents in multilingual urban contexts in Sweden

Abstract

This article examines how time and space are embedded in young adolescents’ reported language practices and experiences of (un)belonging. Drawing on interview data from 13- to 14-year-olds in socioeconomically disadvantaged and linguistically diverse urban areas in Sweden, the study explores how these practices are shaped by spatial contexts (school and peer environments, local neighborhoods, urban and transnational spaces) and temporal dimensions (including past experiences, present practices, and imagined futures). Adopting a Bourdieusian approach, the analysis illustrates how time and space are interwoven in language practices, and how adolescents’ awareness of linguistic and social hierarchies informs their experiences of (un)belonging. The findings demonstrate how spatiotemporal conditions interact in shaping adolescents’ linguistic habitus, their (un)belonging, and their social positioning within and beyond their immediate environments.