I'm protective of this yard

Long-Term Homeless Persons' Construction of Home Place and Workplace in a Historical Public Space

Bibliographic Data

ID3977564
AuthorsRebecca Sheehan (0000-0003-2818-1563, Oklahoma State University, corresponding author)
Year2010
Volume11
Issue6
Pages539-558
Publication date2010-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial & Cultural Geography (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1464-9365 • E-ISSN: 1470-1197
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14649365.2010.497912
OpenAlexW2062797085
LanguageEN
Citations received21
References cited31

Though research has examined the ways homeless persons work to be in public space, less research covers tying these ways to personal and social needs associated with home place and workplace. Additionally, scholars have given less attention to how central public spaces may not only be integral to long-term homeless persons' daily paths but also how they may be employed differently from marginal public spaces. In this article, I explain how long-term homeless persons attempted to make a historical-tourist public space, the Jackson Square area in New Orleans' French Quarter, personally and socially meaningful as home place and workplace. Drawing from participant observation and observation, I examine long-term homeless persons' attachment to Jackson Square. I argue that the Square's historical and tourist attraction status actually supported long-term homeless persons' desire and ability to occupy it in significant ways. This status along with long-term homeless persons' negotiating practices and inconsistent practices of authority and policing by those with (more) power made it possible for the Jackson Square area to become long-term homeless persons' home place and workplace. Bien que des recherches ont examinés comment les sans-logis travaillent d'être dans l'espace public, moins des recherches couvrent l'association de ces moyens aux besoins personnels et sociaux associés avec l'espace chez soi et le lieu de travail. En plus, des académiques ont donné moins d'attention à comment des espaces publics centrales peuvent non seulement être intégraux aux chemins quotidiens des sans-logis de longues durées mais aussi comment ils peuvent être éployés autrement que des espaces publics marginalisés. Dans cet article, j'explique comment les sans-logis de longues durées ont essayé de faire un espace public historique-touristique, le quartier Jackson Square au quartier français de La Nouvelle-Orléans, personnellement et socialement significatif comme un espace chez soi et un lieu de travail. En utilisant des contestations des participants et d'observation, j'examine l'attachement des sans-logis de longues durées au Jackson Square. Je soutiens que la position de la Place comme une attraction historique et touristique actuellement a soutenu le désir et la capacité des sans-logis de longues durées de l'occuper dans des moyens significatifs. Cette position ainsi que des pratiques de la négociation des sans-logis de longues durées et les pratiques inconsistantes des autorités et le maintien de l'ordre par eux avec (plus de) pouvoir ont fait la possibilité pour le quartier de Jackson Square à devenir un espace chez soi et un lieu de travail des sans-logis de longues durées. Aunque investigaciones han examinado las formas en que los sin hogar trabajan estar en el espacio público, pocas investigaciones enlacen estas formas a las necesidades sociales y personales asociados con el hogar y el lugar de trabajo. Adicionalmente, investigadores han dado menos atención a como los espacios públicos centrales están integrales a los senderos diarios de los sin hogar y como los están empleados en una forma diferente que los espacios públicos marginales. En este articulo, explico como unas personas sin techo de larga duración intentaron transformar un espacio público histórico-turístico, la plaza Jackson del Barrio Francés de Nueva Orleans, a un hogar y lugar de trabajo con sentido personal y social. Utilizando observación participante, examino el cariño que los sin techo de larga duración tienen para la plaza Jackson. Discuto que el estatus de la plaza como un atracción histórico y turístico ha apoyado el deseo y capacidad de los sin hogar de larga duración ocuparla. Este estatus, junto con las practicas de negociar de los sin hogar y la inconsistencia de vigilancia y autoridad por los (más) poderosos, hace posible la transformación de la plaza Jackson a un hogar y lugar de trabajo para los sin hogar de larga duración. Keywords: long-term homelessnesspublic spacehomehome placeworkplaceKeywords: sans-logis de longues duréesespace publicchez soiespace chez soilieu de travailKeywords: sinhogarismo de larga duraciónespacio públicohogarlugar de trabajo Acknowledgements I would like to thank members of my writing group, Denni Blum, Beth Caniglia, and Yolonda Youngs, for their helpful comments on earlier versions of this paper. Additionally, I want to thank the three anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments. I am solely responsible for any errors. Notes 1 Pseudonyms are used for all homeless persons in this article. 2 By 'chance,' I mean that often I would attempt to steer a conversation in a way that this information would emerge. Additionally, negotiating homelessness was regularly at the forefront of persons' minds, so issues relating to homelessness came out in conversation and were therefore sometimes easily observed. 3 A variety of (dis)abilities, ages, genders, ethnicities, and classes make up those persons who are 'the homeless.' And, homelessness evolves in an array of ways, for different amounts of time, and for a range of reasons. As Del Casino and Jocoy (2008: 194) argue, however, neoliberal agendas have conflated the characteristics of all homeless persons to the chronically homeless subject, who is a 'hopeless' adult male, unable to be a productive member of society. This conflation has its roots in the increased importance given to the aesthetics of place. Significantly, the chronically homeless person imaginary has led to less attention and resources for alleviating other types of homelessness (Del Casino and Jocoy 2008 Del Casino, V.J. Jr and Jocoy, C.L. 2008. Neoliberal subjectivities, the 'new' homelessness, and struggles over spaces of/in the city. Antipode, 40: 192–199. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). 4 See Flynn (1896 Flynn, J.Q. 1896. Flynn's Digest of the City Ordinances, New Orleans: Graham and Son. [Google Scholar]), Jewell (1887 Jewell, E.L. 1887. Jewell's Digest of City Ordinances, New Orleans: A.W. Hyatt. [Google Scholar]), and Leovy (1857 Leovy, H.J. 1857. The Laws and General Ordinances of the City of New Orleans, New Orleans: E.C. Wharton. [Google Scholar]) for early state and city acts and legislation against persons experiencing homelessness. 5 Without their own spaces, these youth had to compete for spaces that other homeless persons already occupied. Thereby, punks became somewhat dispersed and also integrated into spaces known to contain 'homeless' persons (Ruddick 1996 Ruddick, S. 1996. Young and Homeless in Hollywood Mapping Social Identities, New York: Routledge. [Google Scholar]: 127). Additionally, increased social services for homeless youth drew attention to their status as homeless and away from any punk identity. 6 See May (2000) for discussion of incorporating ideas of mobility associated with place and absence of place. 7 Though the War of 1812 technically ended in December of 1814 with a peace treaty between the USA and Great Britain, this news did not reach New Orleans until February. 8 Showing that empathy for long-term homeless persons only goes so far (Mitchell 2003 Mitchell, D. 2003. The Right to the City, New York: The Guilford Press. [Google Scholar]), when Samuel asked an artist in the Square that he repeatedly worked for to come to the courthouse to be a character witness concerning a trumped charge regarding the obstruction of a sidewalk, the artist refused

Geography · Negotiation · Place attachment · Political science · Politics · Power (physics · Public relations · Public space · Quarter (Canadian coin · Social science · Sociology · Square (algebra · Term (time · Yard · Gender Studies · Homelessness and Social Issues · Law · Psychology · Social Psychology · Urban Planning and Governance · Urban, Neighborhood, and Segregation Studies

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