Practices of Conviviality and Belonging Among Young People in Urban Multicultural Australia

While there is considerable anxiety about social cohesion in increasingly diverse societies, and especially young people's role in multicultural civic life, little is known about their everyday practices of conviviality and belonging. Through an analysis of research with youth in some of the most multicultural and disadvantaged neighbourhoods of 5 Australian cities, this paper explores the local spatial practices through which belonging and productive intercultural relations are negotiated. It provides an insight into the ordinary processes by which youth get along in multicultural neighbourhoods, and suggests that practices of conflict and distanciation must be part of the discussion about conviviality in order to properly capture the complexity of productive relationality in the lives of young people.