Homelessness,Public Space and Civil Disobedience |
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Authors: | Simon Stevens |
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Institution: | Department of Politics, People and Place, De Montfort University, Leicester, UK |
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Abstract: | This paper argues that anti-social behaviour, in the context of homelessness, ought to be seen as acts of civil disobedience. Firstly, I identify public space as a hostile space for people experiencing homelessness. Secondly, I detail how this reveals a default interpretation of them as anti-social through their mere presence. Thirdly, I explore how this de-politicises. I go onto define and examine civil disobedience theory, as a counter narrative to anti-social behaviour. I then argue how acts of disruption by people experiencing homelessness in public space can qualify as civil disobedience. I acknowledge this as a wicked problem but claim that flipping the default framing of homelessness in this way has normative gain, undoing the de-politicising othering that anti-social behaviour narratives have caused. |
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Keywords: | anti-social behaviour bare life civil disobedience homelessness panopticon policy public space |
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