One of the most troubling aspects of the politics of homelessness, Leonard C. Feldman contends, is the reduction of the homeless to what Hannah Arendt calls "the abstract nakedness of humanity" and what Giorgio Agamben terms "bare life." Feldman argues that the politics of alleged compassion and the politics of those interested in ridding public spaces of the homeless are linked fundamentally in their assumption that homeless people are something less than citizens. Feldman's book brings political theories together (including theories of sovereign power, justice, and pluralism) with discussions of real-world struggles and close analyses of legal cases concerning the rights of the homeless.

In Feldman's view, the "bare life predicament" is a product not simply of poverty or inequality but of an inability to commit to democratic pluralism. Challenging this reduction of the homeless, Citizens without Shelter examines opportunities for contesting such a fundamental political exclusion, in the service of homeless citizenship and a more robust form of democratic pluralism. Feldman has in mind a truly democratic pluralism that would include a pluralization of the category of "home" to enable multiple forms of dwelling; a recognition of the common dwelling activities of homeless and non-homeless persons; and a resistance to laws that punish or confine the homeless.

About the Author

Leonard C. Feldman is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Oregon.

Reviews

Citizens without Shelter traces the development of homelessness policy by analyzing local regulations and their judicial challenges. Leonard Feldman argues that cities and the courts are now criminalizing the very activities that homeless citizens must carry out in order to live. He also explores the changing definitions of 'the public sphere,' 'citizenship,' and 'home' in political philosophy, and how the interaction among these definitions has had an impact on the evolution of homelessness regulations.

* Political Science Quarterly *

Feldman provides a thoughtful and nuanced examination of the cultural messages that undergird the wide range of arguments that structure both national and local debates in the United States over appropriate public responses to homelessness.... This extremely interesting work is highly recommended to anyone interested in the politics of homelessness or, more broadly, in the development of the 'frames' that both organize and become the grounds for contestation in public policy debates.

-- D. R. Imig, University of Memphis * Choice *

In Citizens without Shelter, Leonard Feldman writes about homelessness and about those who write about the homeless.... He argues-correctly, I believe-that the homeless typically are excluded from democratic politics.

-- Mark Carl Rom, Georgetown University * Perspectives on Political Science *



Book Information
ISBN 9780801472909
Author Leonard C. Feldman
Format Paperback
Page Count 200
Imprint Cornell University Press
Publisher Cornell University Press
Weight(grams) 454g
Dimensions(mm) 235mm * 155mm * 13mm