ABSTRACT
This chapter argues that refugees and returnees are not merely victims of circumstances, nor mere wards of the national and international system that has responsibility for their post-conflict reintegration. It contends that the returnees' perception of the country of origin as 'home', as well as their steady progress towards the touted ideal, is significantly shaped by the intersecting activities of various local, national and international agencies and norms. The chapter describes the local and global agents and actors involved in reintegration activities in Liberia. It analyses the points of intersection between local and global forces in Liberia and elsewhere, with reference to the comparative literature on refugees. The chapter explores the joint construction, or forging – the shaping, perhaps invention and imitation of, and the progressive movement towards – the institutional, material and ideational referents of 'home' in postconflict Liberia by both local actors and international agencies.
