The Homeless and Occupy El Paso: Creating Community among the 99%

Abstract

Tensions between activists and the homeless were common across different Occupy locations. This article focuses on the Occupy movement in downtown El Paso, Texas. It discusses the interactions between activists and homeless people. Initially, as the Occupiers camped in the square they excluded the homeless. A pivotal point was when some Occupiers spoke out against the mistreatment of the homeless arguing that these prejudiced actions were examples of classism. Furthermore, they argued that the homeless exemplified an important segment of the 99%. The contradictions that the homeless population brought to the movement allowed for the movement to grow. The tensions disappeared once the homeless took particular roles in the maintenance of the camp and the logistics needed to keep it running. This justified the presence of these individuals in the eyes of others. This also gave the homeless people a different identity, and normalized their sleeping arrangements since everyone in the camp was sleeping in urban public areas. By becoming Occupiers, homeless individuals gained a new political role that was different from that of being a recipient of charity and services. Some homeless people even credit the activities they carried with the Occupy El Paso movement for helping them recover from addiction and their eventual attainment of housing. The acceptance of homeless people as Occupiers gave coherence and strengthened the movement, while simultaneously providing dignity and solidarity for homeless people.

Keywords:

• Occupy
• homelessness
• contradictions
• social movement
• group-identity
• social boundaries

Notes

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Additional information

Notes on contributors

Curtis Smith

1

Josiah Heyman

2