Abstract

This paper critically examines the concept of alternative forms of ‘homemaking’ among people without a settled home. The introductory section establishes the framework for the paper, providing an overview of homelessness and the homemaking literature. Strengths in the homemaking approach are identified, which reconceptualises homelessness as a human-centered phenomenon that can be understood as ‘resistance’ to societies that block accesses to mainstream housing for people who are (also) socially and economically marginalised. Homemaking moves beyond mainstream academic analyses which explore homelessness in terms of ‘sin’ (addiction and criminality), ‘sickness’ (poor health, especially poor mental health) and ‘systems’ (housing market failure and inadequate social protection and public health systems). The paper argues that, while important in refreshing our thinking about homelessness by offering a new, radical epistemology of housing, homemaking is limited by not contextualising the dwelling practices it seeks to explain, particularly in respect of how it defines ‘homelessness’ and also risks misinterpreting transitory behavioural adaptations as something deeper.

摘要

本文批判性地研究了在没有固定住所的人中“家务”的替代形式的概念。介绍部分建立了本文的框架，概述了无家可归者和家政文献。家政方法的优势被确定，它将无家可归者重新概念化为一种以人为中心的现象，可以理解为对社会的“抵抗”，这些社会阻碍了（也）在社会和经济上被边缘化的人获得主流住房。家政超越了主流学术分析，后者从“罪”（成瘾和犯罪）、“疾病”（健康状况不佳，尤其是心理健康状况不佳）和“系统”（住房市场失灵以及社会保护和公共卫生系统不足）等方面探讨无家可归者. 该论文认为，