Eyes wide shut

Ivancheva, Mariya ORCID: 0000-0003-4066-4074 and Krastev, Stefan (2019) Eyes wide shut. Focaal, 2019 (84). pp. 18-32. ISSN 0920-1297, 1558-5263

Text PrePrint Ivancheva & Krastev-changes-accepted-new-added.pdf - Author Accepted Manuscript Download (331kB) | Preview

Abstract

<jats:p>This article presents the results of a collaborative ethnographic inquiry in contemporary Sofia and Caracas. Combining historical research and ethnography, we compare the ways in which a former and a current left-wing regime treat urban squatting. In both cities, squatters tend to be poor families escaping homelessness. In Sofia, “squatters”—usually of Roma origin—inhabit unregulated spaces deemed illegal after 1989. In Caracas, homeless families have been officially encouraged to squat but not declared legal occupants. A historical comparison shows both socialist governments turn a blind eye to extralegal housing practices. Benign, informal housing arrangements function to display solidarity with marginalized groups as a form of popular legitimacy. Yet, without formalized state protection, such arrangements produced a “surplus” population, vulnerable vis-à-vis global processes of capitalist reorganization.</jats:p>

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	4407 Policy and Administration, 44 Human Society, Homelessness, Social Determinants of Health, Behavioral and Social Science
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	19 Sep 2019 10:13
Last Modified:	07 Dec 2024 08:52
DOI:	10.3167/fcl.2019.840102
Related URLs:	Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3055075