Homeless women, material objects and home (un)making

Abstract

There is a growing body of literature that attests that self-articulation is carried out through the building, decorating and arranging of home. This, for the most part, has tended to overly focus on inhabitants of private, secure and permanent housing. Addressing a gap in literature and theory, this article explores the possibilities of homemaking for the growing sections of society in insecure housing or homelessness situations—for whom housing is neither stable, secure nor a necessarily positive entity. It does so by drawing on in-depth interviews and participant-produced photographs from women accessing homelessness services in the North of England. Of interest here is how homeless women relate to, engage with and use material culture (objects, possessions and the physical dwelling) to simultaneously make and unmake home. The article subsequently offers a new empirical focus for material culture studies which has so far largely neglected the experiences of marginalized groups.

Key Words:

• Home
• homelessness
• homeless women
• material culture
• social theory

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1 This partly reflects a wider trend in sociology and cultural studies (Hall 1985; Sewell 1992; Emirbayer & Mische 1998).

2 The overall proportion of the population of Great Britain who live in private rented accommodation has risen to 35%, up from 29% in the mid-1990s (Joyce et al., 2017, p. 1).

3 There has been a 60% increase in households in temporary accommodation since March 2011 (National Audit Office 2017).

4 These reasons included fleeing abusive relationships, serving time in prison or just want of a better life/a 'fresh start.'

5 ''Up the duff' is a colloquial phrase for being pregnant.

6 Housing affordability has worsened significantly in 69 local authorities in England and Wales over the last five years, with over three-quarters of these being in London, the South East and the East (ONS 2018).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lindsey McCarthy

Lindsey McCarthy is a Research Fellow at the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research (CRESR) at Sheffield Hallam University, with research interests in the areas of housing and homelessness. Her recent project work has explored homelessness and mental health, the experience of homelessness for LGBT people and tenants' experiences of conditions in the private-rented sector. Lindsey's PhD exploring homeless women's constructions of home, homelessness and identity was completed in 2015 at Sheffield Hallam University.