Abstract |
The doctoral thesis proposes a distinctive method for the study of the pathways into and through visible homelessness in Athens, by considering the theoretical framing of precariousness and marginality, firstly as social rupture and suffering, and secondly as disaffiliation and weakening of social ties. The distinctiveness of this method lies in the synthesis of multiple methodological perspectives, which set the temporal dimension (timing) in the epicenter of both data collection and analysis. An abundance of material was produced by combining the life trajectory approach, with emphasis on the housing trajectory (through quantitative and mixed analysis), biographical research (through qualitative analysis) and the ethnographic method. The analysis of this material identified nine distinct patterns/pathways and the significant transitions to and through homelessness. In addition, two broader processes of marginalization emerged. More specifically, for reasons related to class origin, drug users seem to drift into homelessness, while the majority of non-drug users are rapidly pushed into it. Moreover, the analysis pointed out the interaction of key drivers and broader transformations of the southern European welfare regime, which, through the crisis, mediate the formation of these pathways by transforming a habitus of precariousness into a habitus of marginality. In particular, the thesis highlights how prolonged violence and suffering emerge through the interactions of poverty, substance abuse, and patriarchal gender relations with punitive state interventions and inadequate support services. It also brings to the fore how the participants' dispositions, as they have been disorganized and transformed through time, entail different views of the experience of homelessness and survival practices, and therefore shape different pathways through homelessness. Namely, differences among the nine pathways were traced in terms of the duration and the episodic nature of homelessness; living on the street or in shelters; survival practices; the preservation of various forms of capital; and the management of the stigmatized position as well as exposure to different forms of violence. Homelessness could therefore be perceived as a dynamic, multidimentional and sometimes enduring process of precarization, produced in the context of broader socioeconomic transformations and affecting beyond housing, all the realms of human existence. The thesis offers suggestions for the further elaboration of the theoretical foundation of the pathways methodology and the use of mixed methods research, as well as guidelines for policy-making regarding the prevention and treatment of the phenomenon. At the same time, it contributes to the broader scientific debate on precariousness and its various manifestations in the context of expanding neoliberalization.
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