Otherwise homeless : vehicle living and the culture of homelessness / Michele Wakin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wakin, Michele.

Contributor:

Class of 1924 Book Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Homeless persons.

Homelessness--United States.

Homelessness.

United States.

Homeless persons--Services for--United States.

Homeless persons--Services for.

Housing policy--United States.

Housing policy.

Physical Description:

xii, 189 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Boulder ; London : FirstForumPress, A division of Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc., 2014.

Summary:

Privacy, mobility, dignity, living in a vehicle offers many advantages over life in a shelter or on the street. Here the author broadens our understanding of homelessness by exploring the growing phenomenon of vehicle living and how it differs from other forms of makeshift housing. Incorporating both quantitative data and ethnographic work in California, she takes us into the lives of those who call a car, truck, or RV home. She probes the forces that pushed them out of traditional housing, their unique strengths and vulnerabilities in navigating everyday life, and their complex relationships with local communities, law enforcement, and social service providers. Her analysis of this overlooked population illuminates the dynamics that make it so hard to break the cycle of regulation and resistance that impedes the escape from poverty. -- Publisher website.

Contents:

Homes on wheels

Brief history of homelessness and vehicle living

Navigating vehicle living

Negotiating public spaces

Service provision and programming

Vehicle living vs. unsheltered homelessness

When beggars become choosers.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 177-184) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Class of 1924 Book Fund.

ISBN:

1935049879

9781935049876

OCLC:

858672413

Publisher Number:

99963802103