| Description |
xxiv, 340 p. : ill. ; 23 cm. |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (p. 315-328) and index. |
| Contents |
Urban ethnography beyond the culture wars -- Managing homelessness in the United States -- The street : watch out, San Francisco! Ain't gonna get no peace -- Moorings : some other kind of life -- Word on the street : no one loves a loser -- The new hobos -- Rabble management : like I need more drugs in my life? -- The homeless archipelago : a little room for myself -- The old runaround : class cleansing in San Francisco -- The road to Nowheresville. |
| Summary |
Gowan shows some of the diverse ways that men on the street in San Francisco struggle for survival, autonomy, and self-respect. Living for weeks at a time among homeless men--working side-by-side with them as they collected cans, bottles, and scrap metal; helping them set up camp; watching and listening as they panhandled and hawked newspapers; and accompanying them into soup kitchens, jails, welfare offices, and shelters--Gowan immersed herself in their routines, their personal stories, and their perspectives on life on the streets. She observes a wide range of survival techniques, from the illicit to the industrious, from drug dealing to dumpster diving. She also discovered that prevailing discussions about homelessness and its causes--homelessness as pathology, homelessness as moral failure, and homelessness as systemic failure--powerfully affect how homeless people see themselves and their ability to change their situation. |
| Subject |
Homeless persons -- California -- San Francisco.
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Homeless men -- California -- San Francisco.
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Homelessness -- California -- San Francisco.
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| ISBN |
9780816669677 (pb : acid-free paper) |
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0816669678 (pb : acid-free paper) |
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9780816648696 (hc : acid-free paper) |
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0816648697 (hc : acid-free paper) |
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