ABSTRACT
This chapter defines loneliness and shows how psychology refined the study of loneliness around individual experiences of lost connections with loved ones (emotional loneliness) and with their community (social loneliness). It argues that as loneliness became increasingly associated with unmet belonginess needs, sociologists and cultural analysts have explored the social and cultural bases of belonging beyond the biographic incidents of individuals to consider how it relates to, and is affected by, social and cultural change. It investigates the impact of industrialisation, modernisation, individualism and neoliberalism on the normative bases of cultural and everyday belonging in contemporary societies and the spectre of loneliness that ensues. It shows how loneliness results from social and cultural changes in the workplace, household, politics and civic life as well as through new technologies and communications. It will also show how changes in the cultural and creative industries have created commercialised spectacles, festivals, programming and performances that are consumed rather than engaged with or participated in, and that offer a reduced sense of belonging than that derived from earlier forms of popular culture. It suggests that older forms of more participatory popular culture should be studied in order to understand how they may be recovered and reintroduced into cities and regions as part of ongoing social and cultural policy that aims to reduce social isolation/loneliness and increase cultural inclusiveness/diversity.
