Expulsion: A type of forced mobility experienced by homeless people in Canada

ABSTRACT

In the last 30 years, researchers have increasingly examined (im)mobility to understand why homelessness continues in the Global North. Studies consistently identify how people experiencing homelessness are excluded and displaced. However, the relationship between social and spatial marginalization is not well understood. In this article, I argue that a more complete understanding of mobility requires joint attention to social exclusion and spatial displacement. I develop the concept of expulsion to examine homeless mobilities. I draw on data from a longitudinal survey of homeless people’s inter-regional mobilities over ten years in Canada. I identify six modes of expulsion: residential expulsions, service exclusions, warehousing, racial banishments, violent expulsions, and ostracism. In each of these instances, people are mobilized to the social exterior while they are simultaneously displaced spatially. By developing a theory of expulsion, this paper contributes a new framework for understanding forced migration, coerced mobility, and involuntary displacement.

KEYWORDS:

• Homelessness
• expulsion
• mobility
• migration
• banishment
• forced mobility
• displacement
• social exclusion
• Canada

Acknowledgments

Thanks to all who participated in the At Home/Chez Soi Project while sharing their lives and knowledge with the research team. Thanks also to Alan Walks, Jonathan Peyton, Jino Distasio, and the three anonymous reviewers for their thorough comments, critiques, and material support. This work was supported by the Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation through a 2018 Doctoral Scholarship; and by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada through a Joseph‐Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarships Program Doctoral Scholarship; and by the Canada Graduate Scholarships‐Master’s Program.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Data Availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute housed at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. The data are not publicly available due to their containing information that could compromise the privacy of research participants.

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1. Absolute homelessness was defined as those individuals with no fixed address for the past seven nights who had little likelihood of getting shelter. This definition also included those being discharged from an institution with no fixed address to go to (Goering et al., 2011).

2. Precariously housed included those with an unstable current residence who also had two or more absolute episodes of absolute homelessness in the past year (Goering et al., 2011).

3. Defined by health, social, and justice service usage at baseline interview.

4. Top 10% of service users in terms of usage patterns.

5. While 2,148 individuals were enrolled in the study, complete demographic data is only available for 1,841 participants.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation [2018 Doctoral Scholarship]; Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada [Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarships Program Doctoral Scholarship; and Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarships Program Master’s Scholarship].