En el siguiente trabajo se examinan las representaciones de lo monstruoso en la narrativa fantástica chilena, particularmente en el formato cuento. Para ello se propone un análisis temático e histórico de esta vertiente desde el romanticismo político hasta la literatura reciente, siempre desde una mirada general pero enmarcada en una matriz de sentido fundada en el terror como manifestación estética. El estudio se fundamenta a través del análisis de las transgresiones del terror sobrenatural y las implicancias políticas y sociales que inciden en el sistema de representación chileno. Lo anterior con el propósito de reactualizar el canon nacional más allá del dominio mimético. ; The following work examines the representations of the monstrous in Chilean fantastic narrative, particularly in the short story format. For this purpose, a thematic and historical analysis of this aspect is proposed from political romanticism to recent literature, always from a general perspective but framed in a matrix of meaning based on terror as an aesthetic manifestation. The study is based on the analysis of the transgressions of supernatural terror and the political and social implications that affect the Chilean system of representation. The foregoing with the purpose of updating the national canon beyond the mimetic domain. ; Esta publicación es parte del proyecto de I+D+i PGC2018-093648-B-I00, financiado por MCIN/ AEI /10.13039/501100011033/ FEDER «Una manera de hacer Europa» - Estrategias y figuraciones de lo insólito. Manifestaciones del monstruo en la narrativa en lengua española (de 1980 a la actualidad).
Based on two studies with Bosniak and Croatian students in Bosnia and Herzegovina, this paper analyzes the effects of religiosity on intergroup forgiveness and reconciliation. Both Christianity and Islam advance forgiveness and reconciliation as one of the major moral imperatives. Previous studies also indicate that religiosity can increase readiness to grant forgiveness on the inter-personal level and facilitate rapprochement. When it comes to inter-group level, prescripts of religious piety often conflict with norms of group solidarity and care. Another set of research suggests that religion obstructs conflict transformation due to the dogmatic reasoning it promotes, including reframing of immanent disputes in transcendental (and thus non-negotiable) terms. This study initially tested whether adding religious symbols to conflict narratives impacts prosocial attitudes of respondents and came with negative results. In other words, adding religious codes to already known narratives about conflicts did not have a significant impact on participants' attitudes. In a subsequent SEM analysis, it was found that religiosity in both groups is strongly correlated with group-centricity, which negatively mediates its relationship with both forgiveness and reconciliation. We conclude that collectivistic forms of religiosity that privilege ingroup solidarity might have negative effects on intergroup forgiveness and reconciliation in post-conflict settings.
Based on two studies with Bosniak and Croatian students in Bosnia and Herzegovina, this paper analyzes the effects of religiosity on intergroup forgiveness and reconciliation. Both Christianity and Islam advance forgiveness and reconciliation as one of the major moral imperatives. Previous studies also indicate that religiosity can increase readiness to grant forgiveness on the inter-personal level and facilitate rapprochement. When it comes to inter-group level, prescripts of religious piety often conflict with norms of group solidarity and care. Another set of research suggests that religion obstructs conflict transformation due to the dogmatic reasoning it promotes, including reframing of immanent disputes in transcendental (and thus non-negotiable) terms. This study initially tested whether adding religious symbols to conflict narratives impacts prosocial attitudes of respondents and came with negative results. In other words, adding religious codes to already known narratives about conflicts did not have a significant impact on participants' attitudes. In a subsequent SEM analysis, it was found that religiosity in both groups is strongly correlated with group-centricity, which negatively mediates its relationship with both forgiveness and reconciliation. We conclude that collectivistic forms of religiosity that privilege ingroup solidarity might have negative effects on intergroup forgiveness and reconciliation in post-conflict settings.
Presenting an analysis of higher education in eight countries in the Arab Middle East and North Africa, Degrees of Dignity works to dismantle narratives of crisis and assert approaches to institutional reform. Drawing on policy documents, media narratives, interviews, and personal experiences, Elizabeth Buckner explores how apolitical external reform models become contested and modified by local actors in ways that are simultaneously complicated, surprising, and even inspiring. Degrees of Dignity documents how the global discourses of neoliberalism have legitimized specific policy models for higher education reform in the Arab world, including quality assurance, privatization, and internationalization. Through a multi-level and comparative analysis, this book examines how policy models are implemented, with often complex results, in countries throughout the region. Ultimately, Degrees of Dignity calls on the field of higher education development to rethink current approaches to higher education reform: rather than viewing the Arab world as a site for intervention, it argues that the Arab world can act as a source for insight on resilient higher education systems. ; This book has been published with the help of a grant from the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, through the Awards to Scholarly Publications Program, using funds provided by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. University of Toronto Press acknowledges the financial assistance to its publishing program of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario.
La evolución de la radio en los últimos años ha derivado en una creciente presencia y utilización de las redes sociales como canal de comunicación con sus audiencias y la aparición de nuevas narrativas. Esta investigación explora el tratamiento que las cuatro principales cadenas radiofónicas españolas -SER, COPE, Onda Cero y Radio Nacional de España- realizaron en Instagram durante la investidura de Pedro Sánchez como presidente del Gobierno de España. Del análisis de contenido cuantitativo y cualitativo realizado se deriva que la implantación de la radio en Instagram es, todavía, incipiente en algunos casos, pero que, sin embargo, cadenas como SER y COPE ya aplican nuevas narrativas en la red social. La radio emplea Instagram para informar y también como espacio para los géneros opinativos, y lo hace con un impacto notable en las comunidades de seguidores. ; Radio's evolution in recent years is characterised by the growing presence and use of social networks as communication channels with their audiences and the emergence of new narratives. This research explores the coverage carried out by the four main Spanish radio stations - Cadena SER, COPE, Onda Cero and Radio Nacional de España - through their Instagram accounts during the inauguration of Pedro Sánchez as President of the Government of Spain. The results obtained from an analysis of quantitative and qualitative content reveal that, in some cases, the introduction of radio on Instagram is still in its infancy. However, stations such as SER and COPE have already implemented new narratives in this social network. The radio uses Instagram to inform and also as a platform for opinion genres having a significant impact on the communities of followers. ; Este trabajo ha sido realizado en el marco del Grupo de Investigación en Comunicación e Información Digital (GICID) de la Universidad de Zaragoza, reconocido como grupo de referencia por el Gobierno de Aragón con el código S29_20R (Núm. 62 del Boletín Oficial de Aragón, de fecha 26/03/2020), dentro del área de Ciencias Sociales y financiado por el Fondo Social Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, FEDER "Construyendo Europa desde Aragón".
ABSTRACT Objective: To identify and to discuss the progress of actions for the protection, promotion and support of breastfeeding in Brazil from the perspective of the indicators proposed by the Global Breastfeeding Collective. Data source: A narrative review was conducted according to the methodological orientation of the implementation research and through a qualitative approach. Publications from the World Health Organization and the United Nations Children's Fund were selected, as well as publications from the Brazilian Ministry of Health were collected from the Virtual Health Library and from the libraries of the Department of Primary Care's portal and the Brazilian's Institute of Geography and Research. Data synthesis: Brazil has shown promising results regarding the implementation of breastfeeding protection legislation, the participation of municipalities in community breastfeeding support programs, and the continued evaluation of these programs. However, reports of breastfeeding rates have not been produced every five years and the progress of these indicators is very far from the agreed targets for 2030. There is also a need to improve the number of births in child-friendly hospitals and financial donations for breastfeeding programs. Conclusions: It is necessary to strengthen systematic monitoring of breastfeeding and following up current strategies to more effectively impact the breastfeeding rates in the country. Furthermore, it is suggested that the practice of donations is a pathway to be explored to support breastfeeding programs.
Este trabajo reclama la pertinencia de una práctica epistemológica feminista de la conciliación, capaz de aunar sensibilidades y quehaceres modernos y posmodernos. Esta mirada conciliadora permite abordar en su amplia complejidad las relaciones entre las dimensiones macroestructurales, mesoinstitucionales y microencarnadas de las vidas de las mujeres, así como transitar los actuales debates en torno a la (in)validez de las categorías de género y mujer. Para ello, se toma como referencia de partida la Teoría del Punto de Vista de Sandra Harding, paradigma de la nueva epistemología feminista y foco de discrepancias científicas y políticas entre los propios feminismos. A partir de la propuesta de Harding, se analizan críticamente las tensiones feministas que esta teoría plantea y que apuntan hacia ciertos riesgos esencialistas y universalistas y, al mismo tiempo, hacia posibles derivas individualistas o relativistas. Se sugiere entonces el encuentro de esta Teoría del Punto de Vista con un enfoque posmoderno que la complejice y actualice al calor de las actuales discusiones feministas. Ya desde este punto de vista posmoderno, se plantean una serie de enmiendas para afinar la mirada epistemológica feminista: enfrentar el relato único sobre las mujeres a partir de sus diversas experiencias; explorar las distintas experiencias encarnadas para conectarlas y analizarlas en contexto, esto es, sujetas a las relaciones estructurales de poder; sustituir el privilegio epistémico automático por una preferencia crítica y argumentada por las experiencias y relatos de las mujeres; y, finalmente, poner en valor las experiencias y relatos de la propia investigadora para orientar el estudio y, también, exponer los privilegios y limitaciones de su punto de vista. ; This essay claims the relevance of a feminist epistemological practice of conciliation, capable of bringing together modern and postmodern sensibilities and works. This conciliatory gaze makes it possible to address the relationships between the macro-structural, meso-institutional and micro-incarnate dimensions of women's lives in their broad complexity, as well as to go through the current debates on the (in)validity of the categories of gender and woman. To this end, Sandra Harding's Standpoint Theory, a paradigm of the new feminist epistemology and the focus of scientific and political discrepancies between feminisms themselves, is taken as a starting point. Based on Harding's proposal, a critical analysis is made of the feminist tensions that this theory raises. These tensions point to certain essentialist and universalist risks and, at the same time, to possible individualist or relativist drifts. It is then suggested that this Standpoint Theory should meet with a postmodern approach that would make it more complex and update it in the eyes of current feminist discussions. From this postmodern standpoint, a series of amendments are proposed to refine the feminist epistemological gaze: to confront the single narrative about women from their diverse experiences; to explore the different embodied experiences to connect and analyse them in context, that is, subjected to structural power relations; to replace automatic epistemic privilege with a critical and argued preference for women's experiences and narratives; and, finally, to value the experiences and stories of the researcher to guide the study and, also, to expose the privileges and limitations of their own point of view.
Competency-based learning in elementary education requires the integrated instruction of multiple competencies. Because of its inherent complexity, the assessment of such instruction poses significant challenges. This study presents the results of instructional and assessment experiences implemented in elementary schools of Costa Rica and Japan during the 2019 school year. These activities aimed at developing ATC21s competencies related to local and global citizenship, critical thinking, and ICT literacy. In each country, an experimental group (26 students in Costa Rica and 27 in Japan) participated in two learning units that incorporated animated shorts, graphic organizers, and comics to address community issues. The results from both units are assessed through the analysis of comics and questionnaires. Control groups (25 students in Costa Rica and 27 in Japan) participated only in the questionnaires, which focused on concepts related to community and citizen participation. The comics' analysis focused on the participants' citizens self-awareness and critical thinking skills. The questionnaires' analysis dealt with attitudes related to community and citizen participation. In Costa Rica, the analysis of the comics showed significant increases in critical thinking (PPC) and citizen self-awareness (PCC) scores in the second unit. In both units, Japanese students showed better performance in PPC and PCC than their Costa Rican peers. In both countries, correlations were found between PPC and PCC. The analysis of the questionnaires did not show conclusive results in either country. These results suggest that narrative is more suitable than description and exposition for students to express active and critical attitudes related to citizenship and democracy. ; El aprendizaje basado en competencias en educación primaria requiere la formación integrada de múltiples competencias. Debido a su complejidad inherente, su evaluación supone retos importantes. Este artículo presenta los resultados de experiencias de formación y evaluación realizadas en escuelas de Costa Rica y de Japón durante el año escolar del 2019, dirigidas a desarrollar competencias ATC21s (Evaluación y Enseñanza de las Competencias del Siglo XXI) relacionadas con conciencia ciudadana, pensamiento crítico y literacidad en TIC. En cada país, un grupo experimental (26 estudiantes en Costa Rica y 27 en Japón) participó en dos unidades de aprendizaje, que incorporaron cortos animados, organizadores gráficos e historietas para abordar problemas comunitarios. Los resultados de ambas unidades fueron evaluados mediante el análisis de historietas y cuestionarios. Los grupos de control (25 estudiantes en Costa Rica y 27 en Japón) participaron solo en los cuestionarios, los cuales se centran en los conceptos de comunidad y participación ciudadana. El análisis de historietas se enfocó en la conciencia ciudadana y en las habilidades de pensamiento crítico de las personas participantes, y el análisis de cuestionarios se centró en nociones vinculadas con comunidad y participación ciudadana. En Costa Rica, el análisis de las historietas mostró incrementos significativos en los puntajes de pensamiento crítico (PPC) y conciencia ciudadana (PCC) entre las dos unidades. En las dos unidades, el estudiantado japonés mostró un mejor desempeño en PPC y PCC que sus pares costarricenses. En ambos países se encontraron correlaciones significativas entre PPC y PCC. En los grupos experimentales y de control de ambos países, el análisis de los cuestionarios no mostró resultados concluyentes. Estos resultados muestran que la narrativa es más adecuada que la descripción y la exposición para que las personas estudiantes expresen actitudes activas y críticas relacionadas con ciudadanía y democracia ; El aprendizaje basado en competencias en educación primaria requiere la formación integrada de múltiples competencias. Debido a su complejidad inherente, su evaluación supone retos importantes. Este artículo presenta los resultados de experiencias de formación y evaluación realizadas en escuelas de Costa Rica y de Japón durante el año escolar del 2019, dirigidas a desarrollar competencias ATC21s (Evaluación y Enseñanza de las Competencias del Siglo XXI) relacionadas con conciencia ciudadana, pensamiento crítico y literacidad en TIC. En cada país, un grupo experimental (26 estudiantes en Costa Rica y 27 en Japón) participó en dos unidades de aprendizaje, que incorporaron cortos animados, organizadores gráficos e historietas para abordar problemas comunitarios. Los resultados de ambas unidades fueron evaluados mediante el análisis de historietas y cuestionarios. Los grupos de control (25 estudiantes en Costa Rica y 27 en Japón) participaron solo en los cuestionarios, los cuales se centran en los conceptos de comunidad y participación ciudadana. El análisis de historietas se enfocó en la conciencia ciudadana y en las habilidades de pensamiento crítico de las personas participantes, y el análisis de cuestionarios se centró en nociones vinculadas con comunidad y participación ciudadana. En Costa Rica, el análisis de las historietas mostró incrementos significativos en los puntajes de pensamiento crítico (PPC) y conciencia ciudadana (PCC) entre las dos unidades. En las dos unidades, el estudiantado japonés mostró un mejor desempeño en PPC y PCC que sus pares costarricenses. En ambos países se encontraron correlaciones significativas entre PPC y PCC. En los grupos experimentales y de control de ambos países, el análisis de los cuestionarios no mostró resultados concluyentes. Estos resultados muestran que la narrativa es más adecuada que la descripción y la exposición para que las personas estudiantes expresen actitudes activas y críticas relacionadas con ciudadanía y democracia
Palestiinalaispakolaiset ovat eläneet pakolaisleireillä jo seitsemän vuosikymmentä. Heidän pakolaisuutensa juontuu vuodesta 1948, jolloin Israelin valtion perustamisen yhteydessä enemmistö alueen palestiinalaisesta väestöstä joutui pakenemaan kotiseuduiltaan. Vuosikymmenten aikana pakolaisleirit ovat tulleet osaksi Lähi-idän maisemaa, ja niillä on kasvanut ja elänyt jo useita palestiinalaissukupolvia. Leirien pitkästä historiasta huolimatta niitä on kuitenkin pidetty väliaikaisina; määritelmällisesti leiri on aina olemassa vain rajatun ajanjakson ja palestiinalaisten kansallisissa narratiiveissa, jotka painottavat paluuta Palestiinaan, niitä ei ole ajateltu pysyvinä asuinpaikkoina. Käytännössä leirit kuitenkin muodostavat olosuhteet, joissa palestiinalaispakolaiset elävät arkeaan ja rakentavat tulevaisuuttaan. Pitkän historiansa, ainutlaatuisen institutionaalisen viitekehyksen sekä palestiinalaisten poliittiseen kamppailuun linkittyvien merkitysten takia leirit luovat omanlaisensa puitteet niillä asuvien pakolaisten elämälle. Tässä tutkimuksessa en silti tarkastele vain leirejä itsessään vaan lähestyn niiden kautta sitä, miten niillä asuvat palestiinalaiset neuvottelevat tulevaisuudentoiveitaan. Tämä etnografiaan pohjaava tutkimus on toteutettu Libanonissa, Jordaniassa ja Länsirannalla usealla eri pakolaisleirillä. Valitsin monikenttäisen lähestymistavan sillä lähtöoletuksella, että pakolaisuuden konteksti vaikuttaa merkittävästi siihen, miten tulevaisuuksia kuvitellaan. Palestiinalaispakolaisten asemamassa onkin merkittäviä eroja näillä kolmella alueella: Libanonissa he elävät ilman kansalaisuutta ja sen tuomia oikeuksia, Jordaniassa enemmistö pakolaisista on samanaikaisesti sekä maan kansalaisia että pakolaisia ja Länsirannalla palestiinalaispakolaiset joutuvat muiden länsirantalaisten tavoin kohtaamaan Israelin väkivaltaisen miehityspolitiikan. Näiden kontekstuaalisten erojen ja niiden vaikutusten ymmärtäminen on ollut tutkimuksen keskiössä. Tutkimuksen lähtöoletuksena on lisäksi ontologisen hermeneutiikan mukaisesti se, että tulevaisuuden tarkastelu ei ole mahdollista ilman, että ymmärtää menneen, nykyisyyden ja näiden välisen suhteen. Tästä syystä käyn läpi eri kentillä asuvien palestiinalaisten historiaa ja etenen leirien nykyolosuhteiden tarkasteluun. Nämä ajallisuudet luovat pohjan pakolaisten tulevaisuudentoiveiden ymmärtämiselle. Palestiinalaispakolaisten historia on täynnä väkivaltaa, pakenemista ja jatkuvaa epävarmuutta, ja pakolaisleirit ovat tilana tiivistäneet pakolaisuuteen liittyvät vaikeudet niin historiallisesti kuin nykyäänkin. Materiaaliset olosuhteet, ahtaus, suhde ympäröivään paikkaan ja yhteisöön sekä leirin identiteetilliset ja poliittiset konnotaatiot ovat kaikki vaikuttaneet siihen, miten tähän tutkimukseen osallistuneet palestiinalaispakolaiset kokivat elinolosuhteensa. Leirien ei koettu pystyvän tarjoamaan toivottua elintasoa, mutta samanaikaisesti ne muodostivat merkityksellisen yhteisön, johon liitettiin useita positiivisia ominaisuuksia. Leirit muodostivat myös osan pakolaisten poliittista identiteettiä: ne muistuttivat niillä asuvien pakolaisuudesta ja muodostivat linkin Palestiinaan ja siten ylläpitivät vaatimusta paluuoikeudesta. Kuitenkin, näistä positiivisista puolista huolimatta, elettyinä tiloina leirit eivät pystyneet luomaan toivottuja puitteita arjelle. Tässä tutkimuksessa painottuu myös se, että Libanonissa, Jordaniassa ja Länsirannalla tarjolla olleet mahdollisuudet eivät useinkaan riittäneet toivotun tulevaisuuden saavuttamiseen. Maastamuutto olikin monelle tapa kuvitella parempaa tulevaisuutta niin itselle kuin perheelle, erityisesti Libanonissa ja Länsirannalla. Parempaa tulevaisuutta neuvoteltiin useita eri reittejä, ja tässä tutkimuksessa keskityn erityisesti koulutuksen, työn ja naimisiinmenon tarjoamiin mahdollisuuksiin. Vaikka myös kansalliset tulevaisuudet, Palestiina ja paluuoikeuden toteutuminen nousivat esiin näissä neuvotteluissa, ilmenivät ne kuitenkin abstraktimmalla tasolla ja eri aikajanalla, kuin tulevaisuudet, joilla haettiin parempia mahdollisuuksia saavuttaa henkilökohtaiset elämäntavoitteet ja helpotusta arjessa kohdattuihin vaikeuksiin. Palestiinalaispakolaisten tulevaisuuskäsitysten erityisyys on juuri henkilökohtaisen ja kansallisen tulevaisuuden välille muodostuvassa ristivedossa. Kansallisen narratiivin mukaan pakolaisten (erityisesti leireillä asuvien) oletetaan sisukkaasti odottavan paluuta, kestävän pakolaisuuden haasteet ja taistelevan kansallisten tavoitteiden puolesta. Samanaikaisesti pakolaiset kuitenkin pyrkivät parantamaan arkeaan, elinolosuhteitaan ja mahdollisuuksiaan tarjolla olevin keinoin. Etnografiassani painottui erityisesti tämä henkilökohtainen puoli ja se, että kansallisten tavoitteiden saavuttamisen ei koettu pystyvän tarjoamaan parannusta pakolaisuuden historian muovaamiin nykyolosuhteisiin riittävän nopealla aikataululla. Väitänkin, että henkilökohtaisten tulevaisuuksien ensisijaisuus heijastaa leireillä asuvien palestiinalaisten kohtaamia vaikeuksia: heidän asemansa ja tulevaisuutensa ei ole tarpeeksi turvattu, jotta he voisivat odottaa ja keskittyä kansallisten tavoitteiden ajamiseen. Sen sijaan palestiinalaispakolaiset ovat pakotettuja tarttumaan tällä hetkellä tarjolla oleviin vaihtoehtoihin ja pyrkimään niihin suuntiin, joissa mahdollisuudet parempaan elämään ovat tarjolla. ; Palestinian refugee camps have been housing Palestinians for seven decades. They were formed after 1948, when in the process of establishing Israel as a Jewish state the majority of Palestinians living in Mandatory Palestine were dispossessed. Over these decades, the camps have become a durable part of the Middle Eastern landscape, and several generations of refugees have already been born, and are living, in them. Despite the fact that Palestinian camps have also been framed as temporary, not only by definition but also in the national narratives stressing the right to return to Palestine, in practice the camps have become sites where lives are lived and futures built. Due to their long history, unique institutional framework, and strong connotation as centers of Palestinian political struggle, Palestinian refugee camps have their own specificities that affect how they frame the life of their dwellers. Yet, this dissertation is not an ethnography of the camps per se; the aim is rather to look through them in order to explore the manifold futures that are negotiated by the Palestinian refugees dwelling in them, and especially by those just reaching adulthood. This ethnographic study has been conducted in several refugee camps in Jordan, Lebanon, and the West Bank. A multi-sited approach was adopted with the presumption that the context of refugeeness affects the ways in which futures are imagined. Palestinian refugees have been positioned differently in these places: as stateless and excluded in Lebanon, as refugee-citizens in Jordan, and as being among their own people yet enduring the difficulties of the oppressive Israeli occupation in the West Bank. Understanding these contextual specificities in the different host sovereigns has hence been central to the aims of this work. In this dissertation I argue, in line with ontological hermeneutics, that it is not possible to explore the future without first addressing the differing pasts and present conditions of the refugees. Therefore, to understand these differing experiences of Palestinian refugees living under the three host sovereigns, I start by looking at the histories that form the present realities through which Palestinians look to, have hopes for, and plan for their futures. The histories of Palestinian refugeeness have witnessed violence, multiple displacements, and enduring uncertainty. In all the fields that were included in this research it was the camp that embodied the difficulties of being a refugee. The material living conditions, crowdedness, camp community, and relations with the surrounding area and society, as well as the identificational and political connotations, have all affected how the camps have been experienced as places of dwelling by my interlocutors. In many ways they were considered inadequate in terms of providing the hoped-for standards of living, yet simultaneously they formed a significant community that was viewed from a positive perspective, though more so in the West Bank and Jordan than in Lebanon. Nevertheless, while the camps functioned as a marker of Palestinian refugeeness, and were even equated with Palestine and the right of return, as everyday spatialities they left much to be desired. Similarly, this research shows that the possibilities available to the refugees under the host sovereigns were not usually enough for my interlocutors to achieve their aspirations. Hence many – especially in Lebanon and the West Bank, though for different reasons – have come to consider that emigration could fulfil their hopes and provide better conditions for them and their families. Better futures were negotiated via different routes – education, employment, and marriage being the ones explored here. While both return and the national future of Palestine also emerged in these negotiations, they were situated in a different, more abstract timeframe, not one that could provide better possibilities or enhancements in the deprived conditions faced in everyday life. The specificity of Palestinian refugees' negotiations on the future nevertheless emerges from this discrepancy between the national and the personal. On the level of national discourse, Palestinian refugees (especially those living in camps) are people steadfastly waiting for the return, enduring life in the camp and fighting for the national cause. However, on the level of the everyday, they are – as is anyone – aiming to improve their situation with the means available and, as became evident in my ethnography, in the present situation and in light of past experiences those means direct their attention somewhere other than to the political objectives they hold as Palestinian refugees. This, I claim, reflects the difficulties that Palestinian refugees living in the camps face: they are not in a secure enough position to have the luxury of "waiting out" or to concentrate on the political in its national manifestation. Rather, they are forced to negotiate the options at hand, to reach out in those directions where possibilities are available.
