Bathed in Modernity :Spatial Relegation of

Houseless Individuals and Liberatory Approaches for

Water and Sanitation in Group Camps in the US.

Association of American Geographers Annual Conference“More Public than Private: Toilet Adoption and Menstrual Hygiene

Management” Panel Session

Abby Brown, PhD Student University of California Santa Cruz ablbrown@ucsc.edu Santa Cruz, California

Presentation Overview

Spatial Relegation and Physical Restrictions

Liberatory Water and Sanitation

Social Exclusion and Social Restrictions

Photo Matthew Woitunski on Wikimedia Commons.Photo lehcar1477 on flickr.

Photos PHLUSH and Shower to the People.

Rationale

Spatial Relegation Overview:

Spatial RelegationMarginal areas in cities Social-service institutions

Photo Pepperdine.Photo Ray_from_LA on flickr.

Spatial Relegation Theory:

2) Social-service institutions

● Jason Adam Wasserman and Jeffrey Michael Clair (2010) state houseless are encouraged to seek treatment.

● “...institutionalize concepts of homelessness as primarily a function of mental illness and addiction... exclusively offering services aimed at treating those conditions” (171).

1) Marginal areas

● David Snow and Michael Mulcahy (2001) examine how houseless individuals are spatially relegated to marginal areas.

● “...space that has little if any use value to most residents; little if any current economic or exchange value...” (157).

= physical restrictions from water/sanitation

Spatial Relegation Water Sanitation: /

“Right here in this area, they don’t let anyone. I think there should be more places to go. There’s been a few times I had to go real bad, and there’s nowhere to go. You have to walk quite a way, and I do. I hold it and walk.”

“You cannot always go to Sisters of the Road because they are always full, you cannot go to Blanchet because they got two restrooms and the other is closed, so you got one restroom for fifty odd people plus and then... and it is always full, the public restrooms are either dirty or full or under... or closed due to damage...”

1) Marginal areas 2) Social-service institutions

Social Exclusion Overview:

Vestiges of Public Health Discussions and Social Exclusion

Civilizing individuals Social hygiene

Photo NYC Parks Department. Photo U of Minnesota Library.

Social Exclusion Theory:

1) Civilizing individuals

● Ruth Barcan (2010) shows civilizing individuals was a public health ideal during industrialization and modernization.

● Concepts such as shame, repugnance, and embarrassment increased and people were expected to be clean and hygienic.

2) Social hygiene

● Clara Greed (2003) states “concepts of public health and social hygiene were linked as were immorality and assumed unsanitary conditions” (38).

● Egan and Hawkes (2007) “equated physical and moral health to the social and cultural health of a Christian nation” (446).

= social restrictions from water/sanitation

Social Exclusion Water Sanitation: /

“...when you are being chased from one place to another and you are told that you cannot come in this area because you might be a drug addict or you... you are just too dirty to... to walk down the street, you do not have a lot of control... there is no place to go to the bathroom...”

“...if I was dirty and dressed in rags and stuff I am not sure that they would let me to do that every day at that time, you know, they would... pretty much they are going to stop me at the door and tell me, you know, “This is for customers only.”

Group Camps Relegation Exclusion: /

Photo Israel Bayer from Street Roots.

Liberatory Water Sanitation/

● Decentralized water/sanitation.● Centralized water/sanitation.

Photos from PHLUSH and MDML.

Conclusions

● Understanding spatial relegation and social exclusion helps us see how houseless individuals are restricted from centralized water/sanitation.

● Houseless individuals in group camps experience enhanced spatial relegation and social exclusion.

● Alternative approaches for water/sanitation might provide insight on liberatory approaches for water, toilets, and hygiene in group camps across the country.

● Liberatory approaches might include decentralized and centralized efforts to counter physical restrictions but social restrictions more difficult to overcome.

● Timely research as group camps are on the rise in the US.

Thank You

For further discussion, please contact Abby Brown at ablbrown@ucsc.edu.