LAUSR

Abstract The paper aims to contribute to debates on the relationship between place, home, and sense of belonging by exploring the context of domicide, which is the intentional destruction of home. In contrast to voluntary migration, which has been intensively studied, those displaced by domicide rarely have the resources or power to rebuild their home, and are often resettled in peripheral regions. The paper argues that locality, which has been largely underplayed in migration and home research, shapes domicide victims' homes and sense of belonging. Drawing on qualitative research with migrants displaced by the Three Gorges Project, one of the largest instances of domicide in China, the paper presents insights into the ways rural locality and migrants' translocal practices are interwoven with the home experiences of those who are displaced. It also explores how their identity and belonging are negotiated, constructed and contested. The analysis contributes to critical geographies of home and could help to devise future involuntary resettlement policy and practice to increase migrants’ sense of home in resettlement.