Psychosocial Notebook - IOM Publications - International ...
Psychosocial Notebook - IOM Publications - International ...
Psychosocial Notebook - IOM Publications - International ...
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the context in which the war originated. The contrast between urban and<br />
rural areas has been sharpened as a social and political separation. The status<br />
of women and young generations has begun to change. These processes<br />
and a perception of them can generate a sense of disorientation,<br />
loss, and incoherence and can often be lived with difficulty, pain and a<br />
sense of guilt at the individual or collective levels. At the same time, however,<br />
these different changes and experiences should also be perceived as<br />
resources, as they form an obstacle to the construction of a collective identity<br />
that is rigid, monolithic, and based on an inner homogeneity of its<br />
community. Instead, they reintroduce a plurality made possible by the multiplicity<br />
of the individuals’ paths, but that is constructed upon commonly<br />
shared characteristics.<br />
It has already been demonstrated that a “storied community” can provide<br />
a sense of security to both the individuals and the collectivity. In the words<br />
of Dr. Renos Papadopoulos:<br />
Stories of resilience based on traditional values, historic experiences,<br />
religious convictions, ideological beliefs, political positions, etc., can be<br />
most helpful in providing a solid and secure new context which can<br />
counteract all feelings of being a helpless victim (Papadopoulos,<br />
2000: 98).<br />
In order to be included in the construction of a healthy community, however,<br />
each story has to leave the stage to multiple voices and give value to<br />
the variety of narratives. The awareness of the differences existing within<br />
the boundaries built up around the community is the first necessary step<br />
towards the breaking of those boundaries themselves. Further, such awareness<br />
would allow for the recognition and acceptance of these “others”,<br />
whose similarities and differences cannot be merely considered as descendent<br />
from their national belonging.<br />
Notes<br />
<strong>Psychosocial</strong> <strong>Notebook</strong>, Volume 2, October 2001<br />
1. All the names used in this paper are pseudonyms.<br />
2. See Lino Losi: Introduction to the volume.<br />
3. For geographical names, I have alternated Albanian and Serbian spellings,<br />
using the most appropriate depending on context. In doing so, I have taken<br />
into consideration the common use of the Serbian spelling in Western<br />
literature.<br />
4. Data collected by the Italian Kfor settled in Gorazdevac (1° Reggimento<br />
Artiglieria da Montagna – Gruppo “Aosta”), which kindly made them available<br />
to us.<br />
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