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Following the global pandemic, there is a need for more cross-national social work research which speaks to the increased and widespread, intra and international, effects of global social phenomenon. Achieving this aim requires social work researchers to be responsive to the intersection of complex lives, complicated problems and dynamic structural contexts. It is, therefore, important that researchers recognise how their identity and positionality within the research project spans several terrains such as social, political and value systems, as well as integrating multiple social categories and social roles. However, a review of the existing literature shows that the lack of conceptual guidance for 'doing' reflexivity means that researchers can sometimes pay insufficient attention to the influence that they have on the people and topic being studied. Drawing on the combined concepts of identity, translocational positionality and epistemic privilege, we aim to strengthen conceptual guidance by advancing the Critical Reflexive Framework (CRF). Following an illustrated example of the CRF, we argue for its widespread adoption to enhance the rigour, integrity and quality of social work research. We conclude that such high-quality research is essential to promote the emancipatory elements of social work practice which occurs in contexts of complexity, uncertainty and flux. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper analyzes the conceptualization of contemporary forms of identity construction within the interrelation of diaspora, ethnicity, belonging, transnationality, translocationality, and interculturality. It casts critical light on the complex subjectivity by introducing the concept of translocational positionality addressed by intersectionality theory. Intersectionality is presented as an analytical tool which sets a far more integrated analysis of diaspora, the shifting devaluation of racialized, sexualized, classed, and gendered lives and factors which shape social locationality. Thereby, Floya Anthias' concept of translocational positionality is used to address the complex and intersectional frame of social locationalities of in-transit Arab women and to unravel issues pertain to identity in terms of the status of in-transit Arab women and their unstable positionality on America. Identifying and scrutinizing the complex process of self-inscription in Randa Jarrar and Laila Halaby's narratives: A Map of Home (2008) and West of Jordan (2003), the study revealed that when the sense of non-belonging to place conceived as home occurs, liberating vision for change, fluid positionality and transformation perceptibly emerge. The research concludes locations are particularly fluid and henceforth positionality, home and belonging are necessarily defined in relation to time, context and space and so susceptible to shifts, transformations and contradictions.

The expansion of transnational education has diversified the destinations and mobility patterns of academic and teacher expatriates (i.e. education expatriates). Emerging literature have explored white Anglo-Western expatriates' experiences of racism and racialization in non-white majority settings, but these are not usually analysed alongside that of less- and non-white expatriates. This article does so by drawing from qualitative interviews with forty racially diverse education expatriates in Malaysia to explore differential experiences in work, immigration and everyday life. It investigates expatriate experiences at the intersection of race, nationality and skin colour, and where relevant, the interconnections with gender, age, class and religion. It critically examines how education expatriates respond to their hierarchical position(ing)s within the dominant racial logics of (white) Westernness in postcolonial Malaysia. A translocational positionality approach offers valuable intersectional insights into the racialized processes that stratify education expatriates' experiences of (dis)advantage and capital convertibility in contingent and contradictory ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper reflects on the perception of contemporary forms of identity construction within the interrelation of diaspora, ethnicity, belonging, transnationality, translocationality, and interculturality. It casts critical light on the complex subjectivity by introducing the concept of translocational positionality addressed by intersectionality theory. Intersectionality is presented as an analytical tool which sets a far more integrated analysis of diaspora, the shifting devaluation of racialized, sexualized, classed, and gendered lives and factors which shape social locationality. Thereby, Floya Anthias' concept of translocational positionality is used to address the complex and intersectional frame of social locationalities of in-transit Arab women and to unravel issues pertain to identity in terms of the status of in-transit Arab women and their unstable positionality on America. Identifying and scrutinizing the complex process of selfinscription in Randa Jarrar and Laila Halaby's narratives: A Map of Home (2008) and West of Jordan (2003), the study revealed that when the sense of non-belonging to place conceived as home occurs, liberating vision for change, fluid positionality and transformation perceptibly emerge. The research concludes locations are particularly fluid and therefore positionality, home and belonging are necessarily defined in relation to time, context and space and so susceptible to shifts, transformations and contradictions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Of the range of negative emotional states, shame is commonly found to characterize experiences of people living in poverty. However, relatively little attention has been directed toward exploring other emotions that accompany the shame. Not exploring other emotions, the possibility that working‐class mothers go through a struggling emotional experience in relation to their experiences of how authorities validate their belonging, is left out of scope. Exploring the notion of resentment creates a conceptual space for considering this possibility, as it flags the importance of belonging and entitlement for mothers living in poverty. I analyze these issues here, by applying "translocational positionality" which stresses how people take up positions relating to experiences of (non‐) belonging and entitlement which are informed by struggles over inclusion and resources. As such, it stresses the links between struggles of belonging and struggles for securing access to resources. It affords the opportunity to identify the emotional/affectual dimension of struggles that would otherwise be implicit at best. A Resentment focused analysis of structured interviews conducted with 90 mothers, from seven ethno‐national categories, living in poverty in Israel enabled me to analyze issues of belonging and entitlement as part of a continuous struggle for resources, pitched against welfare practices which ostensibly support mothers and families in need, but in fact apply means‐tested and other exclusionary principles to leave mothers without the assistance that would protect them from shame. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The capability of SOF operators is a reflection of the perceived value the individual brings to a small team setting. Cohesion within the team is partially a function of the identity of each team member, which influences the degree of integration. This article argues that forcing integration based on sex or gender alone overlooks the multiple potential identities of female special operators and of the teams themselves. The article explores some of the different natures of social identity, including negotiated, positional, and intersectional. These natures suggest identity is a more complex and elusive than how the term "gender" is often interpreted and broadens the application of this discussion to include related issues of the integration of any socioculturally defined groups, such as those defined by race, ethnicity, or religion, into any special operations unit. The article argues that identity constructs have and can be manipulated in a military service as well as in the battlespace, and suggests areas for additional research to identify new ways to leverage different perceptions of self and Other to help accomplish SOF missions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent debate over integrating women into U.S. military combat units presents an opportunity to examine the gender identities and experiences of women in the military. Here, we examine the context-dependent prominence of intersecting identities including work role and gender ascribed to female soldiers in Special Operations. Using a mixed methods approach, based on 28 focus groups with 198 soldiers and a survey conducted with 1701 men and 214 women, we argue that female soldiers' experiences refute their male colleagues' assumptions regarding their ability to serve in combat units. The experience of identity in the workplace is different for men and women because women experience fluidity in their identity depending on with whom they are interacting and where interactions occur, whereas men experience and understand gender identity as a fixed, static trait. Although women experience the fluidity of their gender identity based on context, their male colleagues remain oblivious to the contextual nature of gender identity while also maintaining their authority in policing the boundaries of gender in the military context. Our research adds nuance to literature on identity, demonstrating the fluctuating nature of ascribed identity, which shines light on the socially constructed, artificial barriers to women's ascension in the workplace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A rural-urban exodus subsequently followed by overseas migration has characterised geographical movement in Ireland. While Irish women have outnumbered men in their diaspora, physical and symbolic identification with Ireland has been decisive to the polemic of Irish female migration. This article explores how real and symbolic contradictions in Irish women experiencing displacement are reflected in Edna O’Brien’s memoirCountry Girl(2012). Using translocational positionality as an intersectional research framework, the article reveals the importance of spatiality in the ‘life writings’ of a particular situational subject and its major role in identity construction processes. Furthermore, this article relates the individual biography to the collective and complex construction of identity of Irish women abroad in the second half of the twentieth century. The analysis sheds light on many unvoiced experiences shared by female migrants and discloses key aspects of Irish migration that result in a problematic gendered relation with the land still unresolved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article evaluates the potential found within two approaches that recognize the complexity of social hierarchy in different ways. First, it looks at the revival of class analysis within culturally inflected approaches to class. These have incorporated a number of societal relations, broadly referred to as the symbolic, the social and the cultural, into the analysis. Second, the article assesses attempts to theorize the intersections of gender, ethnicity and class through the intersectionality framework. It considers the potential for developing more integrated analytical frameworks for understanding social hierarchy through cross-referencing these debates. It proposes an intersectional framing which centres on social location and translocation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social research has highlighted the positive outcomes of religious faith and practice for integration and belonging amongst migrants of different genders. However narratives of Filipino migrants in Israel suggest that religion, gender and belonging may not go hand-in-hand. By applying Anthias' intersectional framework of 'translocational positionality', a wider range of religious faith can be taken into account beyond gendered patterns amongst participants and activists in religious communities. Religious belief and gender intersect with other social locations, leading to the expression of complex orientations to belonging: where people believe they fit into the social order. Going beyond the categories of religion and gender to take in other intersections is essential in understanding the experiences of "non-organised" believers - and non-believers - as well as active religious participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concepts of inclusion and integration are significant parts of both academic and public discourses on migration. These terms and their utilization are rooted in the image of migration as a permanent unidirectional movement between territorially bounded nation state societies. The transnational perspective points to a variety of migrants' social worlds transcending the borders of nation states and plurality of migrants' belongings and it challenges such a conceptualization of inclusion/exclusion of migrating individuals and groups. The paper discusses the re-conceptualization of the process of inclusion/exclusion of migrants in transnational social fields. It brings attention to the ways of belonging and nonbelonging of the migrants to the multiple communities both "here" and "there" and the ways their belongings are contested and transformed. It argues that the frame of belonging is an important empirical question to avoid normative assumptions of migrants' integration into the receiving nation state container society. Moreover, the transnational perspective raises the question of the link between behavioural participation of the migrants in various social systems both "here" and "there" and felt belonging to various civic communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]