Magdalena Zegarra, Doctoral Candidate in Anthropology, Reflects on Dissertation Research

I was reading an article from my dementia book a while ago. It has made me think about how apparently insignificant signs or behaviors can have a powerful meaning because behind them there is a whole way of feeling, of experiencing oneself as a person, of knowing who one is and what life and wellbeing expectations are. I think, for example, in these vital actions, these small daily and subtle acts that allow people who live in geriatric institutions to live in the midst of precariousness, to sustain themselves in an environment that is mostly hostile. There are many of these acts, of these attitudes, of these behaviors.