Ideal Refugees

Refugee camps are typically perceived as militarized and patriarchalspaces, and yet the Sahrawi refugee camps and their inhabitantshave consistently been represented as ideal in nature: uniquelysecular and democratic spaces, and characterized by genderequality. Drawing on extensive research with and about Sahrawirefugees in Algeria, Cuba, Spain, South Africa, and Syria, Fiddian-Qasmiyeh explores how, why, and to what effect such idealizeddepictions have been projected onto the international arena.