Making Homes in Limbo: Embodied Virtual “Homes” in Prolonged Conditions of Displacement

Abstract

This special issue makes an original contribution to our understanding of the meaning of home by introducing the idea of the constellation of HOME-Home-home and homemaking practices where these are not necessarily foreseen, in contexts of displacement. In this article, I argue that we need to distinguish between humanitarian-driven understandings of “protracted refugee situations” and peoplecentred experiences of “prolonged conditions of displacement.” I show how the papers in the special issue bring to the fore inconsistencies between state-centred perspectives and people-centred meanings of the “constellation of homes.” Lastly, I examine the significance of other spaces where home may be made during prolonged displacements: the virtual space. I conclude by suggesting that we need to examine in greater depth the complex relationship between the dwelling, home, and homemaking practices when these occur in material and de-territorialized virtual spaces.