These Days I'm Feeling Half-Home: A Study of Sahrawi Youth in Displacement
Authors
Thurøe, Tess ; Madsen, Sarah Louise
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2016
Submitted on
2016-04-01
Pages
100
Abstract
Vestsahara har i årtier været under marokkansk kontrol og omtales ofte som en af verdens sidste ikke-selvstyrende territorier. I mere end 40 år har mange sahrawier levet i flygtningelejre i Algeriet, og en ny generation er vokset op dér. De er ofte veluddannede og mobile, men oplever, at deres liv er sat på pause, mens de venter på en usikker tilbagevenden til hjemlandet. Dette studie undersøger, hvad der holder unge sahrawiske flygtninge forankret i lejrene, og hvordan deres erfaringer med fordrivelse former deres valg i hverdagen. Undersøgelsen bygger på tre ugers intensivt feltarbejde i lejrene i Algeriet, interviews med unge sahrawier samt mange uformelle samtaler og observationer. Analytisk trækker studiet på Henrik Vighs ideer om krise og kroniskhed (vedvarende, langstrakte tilstande) og Victor Turners begreb liminalitet (en mellemtilstand mellem to positioner). Forfatterne foreslår termen “liminal flux” for at beskrive den skiftende mellemtilstand, som de unge befinder sig i. Med Vighs begreb “social navigation” – at finde vej i et foranderligt socialt landskab – undersøger studiet, hvordan de unge manøvrerer mod usikre fremtider. Resultaterne viser, at fordrivelse ikke kun er en ydre ramme, men også en proces og en levet erfaring. For deltagerne opstår det at være fordrevet som en gradvis bevidsthed om ikke at være det “rigtige sted”. Særligt rejser i barndommen til udlandet blev en katalysator for at forstå, at deres liv i lejrene ikke var “normale” sammenlignet med det, de oplevede udenfor. Denne proces skabte både afstand – beslægtet med den ældre generations fysiske flugt – og et bånd mellem generationerne gennem en fælles, erfaret fordrivelse. Studiet argumenterer for, at “liminal flux” indfanger, hvordan unge sahrawiske flygtninge lever i et rum præget af både vedvarende stagnation og mellemtilstand: Selvom fordrivelsen har varet længe, spiller forventningen om “snart at vende hjem” en central rolle i hverdagsbeslutninger. Nutiden svinger derfor mellem kvælende stilleståen og håbefulde åbninger. Denne dobbelthed forhindrer mange i at etablere et stabilt liv og kræver aktive strategier for at skabe mening i et tilværelse på standby, mens de venter på en lovet, men usikker, hjemkomst.
Western Sahara has remained under Moroccan control for decades and is often cited as one of the world’s few remaining non-self-governing territories. For more than 40 years, many Sahrawis have lived in refugee camps in Algeria, and a new generation has grown up there. They are often highly educated and mobile, yet they face lives put on hold as they wait for an uncertain return to their homeland. This study asks what keeps young Sahrawi refugees anchored in the camps and how their experiences of displacement shape everyday choices. It draws on three weeks of intensive fieldwork in the Algerian camps, interviews with young Sahrawis, and numerous informal conversations and observations. Analytically, the study builds on Henrik Vigh’s ideas of crisis and chronicity (ongoing, long-term conditions) and Victor Turner’s concept of liminality (an in-between state). The authors propose the term “liminal flux” to describe the shifting in-between condition the youth inhabit. Using Vigh’s concept of “social navigation” – finding a way through a changing social terrain – the study traces how they navigate toward uncertain futures. The findings show that displacement is not only a context but also a process and a lived experience. For participants, becoming displaced unfolds as a growing awareness of “not being in the right place.” Childhood trips abroad, in particular, acted as catalysts for realizing that life in the camps was not “normal” compared with what they saw elsewhere. This process both created distance – akin to the older generation’s physical flight – and forged a bond across generations through a shared, experiential sense of displacement. The study argues that “liminal flux” captures how young Sahrawi refugees live in a space marked by both chronic stagnation and liminality: despite the protracted nature of exile, the expectation of “returning home soon” plays a central role in daily decision-making. The present thus oscillates between suffocating stuckness and hopeful openings. This duality makes it difficult to establish stable lives and demands active strategies to make sense of a life on hold while waiting for a promised, yet uncertain, return.
[This abstract was generated with the help of AI]
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