In this article, we examine strategies to ‘end’ homelessness in Anglo-American countries such as the United States, Canada and Australia. In the process, we critically reflect on the shifting terrain of homelessness governance in these ‘liberal’ welfare regimes. Beginning in the early 2000s, municipalities across the United States, and later Canada, reconfigured their homelessness policies around the ambitious goal of ending homelessness in 10 years. Grounded in evidence-based interventions such as Housing First, 10-year plans target resources toward the hardest-to-house, endeavor to achieve zero homelessness within a set time frame, and do so while purportedly reducing the economic cost of homelessness. In the time since these plans were initiated, ending homelessness, in an absolute sense, has proven elusive. These circumstances reveal an impasse: we have never known more about homelessness yet, in cities and nations of the Anglo-American world, we seem incapable of ending it. In the face of this impasse, an epistemological inquiry into the very meaning of ‘zero’ homelessness has emerged among homelessness experts and practitioners, one that focuses, in particular, on the notion of ‘functional zero’ and a new campaign called Built-for-Zero. We critically examine this discursive configuration and in doing so work to unpack its significance for homeless governance.

在本文中，我们研究了在美国，加拿大和澳大利亚等英美国家“消除”无家可归者的策略。在此过程中，我们批判性地反思了这些“自由”福利制度中无家可归者治理的不断变化的格局。从2000年代初开始，美国以及加拿大的各个城市都围绕着在10年内终结无家可归的雄心勃勃的目标，重新配置了他们的无家可归政策。十年计划以“住房第一”等循证干预为基础，将资源用于最难住房的家庭，努力在设定的时间范围内实现零无家可归，并据称降低了无家可归的经济成本。自这些计划启动以来，从绝对意义上说，结束无家可归的行动已被证明是遥不可及的。这些情况暴露出一种僵局：我们从来没有对无家可归者有更多的了解，但在英美世界的城市和国家中，我们似乎无力消除无家可归者。面对这种僵局，无家可归的专家和从业人员对“零”无家可归的含义进行了认识论研究，其中特别关注“功能性零”的概念和一项名为“针对无家可归”的新运动。 -零。我们会严格审查这种话语配置，并在此过程中揭示其对无家可归者治理的重要性。尤其着重于“功能零”的概念，以及一项名为“为零打造”的新运动。我们会严格审查这种话语配置，并在此过程中揭示其对无家可归者治理的重要性。尤其着重于“功能零”的概念，以及一项名为“为零打造”的新运动。我们会严格审查这种话语配置，并在此过程中揭示其对无家可归者治理的重要性。