Concept in Definition ABC

The term belonging is one that refers to the action of belonging, being part of or being owned by someone. The verb to belong in itself means at the same time to integrate something or be part of something as well as being the possession of another, that is, to correspond to his orders or command. However, the term membership is normally related to the first of the two meanings that have to do with the idea of ​​feeling part of something, of some phenomenon or circumstance, of some group of people or of some space.

Membership appears generally related to the notion of origin and provenance. Both notions are what make a person (or even a animal) may feel part of a group of peers according to their origin, the place or the group in which they were born. In this way, the feeling of belonging to a place, to a community is given from the coexistence daily life in such a space and sharing meanings, symbols, traditions, actions and forms of think with all the other members. In the case of animals, the feeling of belonging is limited to the herd to which it belongs. The animal that is abandoned or despised by its pack is undoubtedly an animal that loses part of its being.

In the case of the human being, obviously, the notion of belonging becomes much more complex and goes beyond the sense of instinct. The human being is the one who creates his own social group and all the social, cultural and physical phenomena that take place in it are those that unite all its members and make them feel part of that whole, but not of another group.

Membership is especially tied in present to the idea of nation since this is the clearest representative of a social group with which one can share the territory, the political system, history, language, traditions and different ways of feeling.