ABSTRACT
Routines are of course much more than a survival technique; they constitute a cultural field full of tensions and paradoxes. The derogatory dimension of a word like routine or habit can be used to ignore or devalue the activities of others. Everyday routines like preparing a meal could become complicated tasks, calling for both innovation and patience. The concepts of routine and habit have a specific Western history. The old world was seen as a system where ‘custom was king’, keeping people in the grip of unchangeable traditions. Mundane activities can change both ways: rituals can turn into mindless reflexes, and even the most trivial routines may be transformed into more conscious acts, something people experience as reassuring, and comforting or give some symbolic meaning. In extreme situations of war and catastrophe people try to reconstruct whatever they can of normal life, but they may also discover how important some of these seemingly trivial routines were in their former lives.
