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ABSTRACT
This article considers a series of challenges to homemaking in a post-industrial urban neighborhood in the UK, analyzing the local contextualization of domestic space. Based on a series of in-depth interviews with a diverse range of residents, the article investigates what happens when the forces of “outside” move into the “private” space of the home. Starting with a discussion of the neighborhood in question and the associated contexts of high population turnover and the local housing market, it progresses to focus on three material examples of the tension between inside and outside: the threshold sites of windows and doors, the situation of the renting resident, and home possessions themselves. Ultimately, the article illustrates the high levels of porosity of domestic space, arguing that inside the home cannot be understood without reference to both the immediate contexts of the street and wider structural economic forces, and highlighting the value of using material culture for investigating these issues.
