Home : A Very Short Introduction

Thoughts and feelings about home traditionally provided people of all cultures with a firm sense of where they belonged, and why. But with the world rapidly changing, many of our basic notions are becoming problematic. Both internationally and within countries, populations are constantly on the move, seeking better opportunities and living conditions, or an escape from violence and war. In spite of, or perhaps even because of these trends, ideas about home continue to shape the way people everywhere frame an understanding of their lives.

In this Very Short Introduction Michael Allen Fox considers the complex meaning of home and the essential importance of place to human psychology. Drawing on a wide array of international examples he discusses what dwelling is and the variety of dwellings. Fox also looks at the politics of the concept of 'home', homelessness, refugeeism and migration, and the future of home, and argues that home remains a central organizing concept in human life.

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Michael Allen Fox is Adjunct Professor, School of Humanities, University of New England, Australia, and Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. His main research interests are in the areas of nineteenth-century European philosophy, existentialism, environmental philosophy, ethics and animals, and philosophy of peace. He is the author of five books that reflect a wide-ranging engagement with philosophy, the most recent of which are: Understanding Peace: A Comprehensive Introduction (Routledge, 2014) and The Remarkable Existentialists (Humanity/Prometheus, 2009). He has also published over sixty-five scholarly articles, many of which are aimed at a broad general readership. In addition, he edited/co-edited Queen's Quarterly, Canada's oldest general-interest intellectual review, for ten years