We all struggle with the conflict between our desire for autonomy on the one hand, and our desire to be part of a community on the other. Social commentator Hugh Mackay’s latest book, The Art of Belonging: It’s not where you live, it’s how you live, weighs up the question “Who am I?” against the even bigger question, “Who are we?” He talks to Simon Smart about the drought of belonging in contemporary Australia, the appeal of “village” living, and how real community can be cultivated in the places we actually live in.
