Citizenship and NIMBYism: Identities at the Juncture of Homelessness, Place, and Ideology

Not in my back yard (NIMBY)ism is a form of anti-homeless discrimination intended to displace people experiencing homelessness from urban spaces. While research on anti-homeless discrimination is abundant, the Canadian literature has yet to explore the political dimensions of this type of discrimina...

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Main Authors: Jason Webb, Erin Dej
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Western Libraries, The University of Western Ontario 2024-12-01
Series:International Journal on Homelessness
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ojs.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/ijoh/article/view/17235
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author Jason Webb
Erin Dej
author_facet Jason Webb
Erin Dej
author_sort Jason Webb
collection DOAJ
description Not in my back yard (NIMBY)ism is a form of anti-homeless discrimination intended to displace people experiencing homelessness from urban spaces. While research on anti-homeless discrimination is abundant, the Canadian literature has yet to explore the political dimensions of this type of discrimination. International researchers have studied the connections between homelessness and citizenship, and we take up this theoretical work in this study. We present interview data from people experiencing homelessness in three mid-sized cities in Ontario. Using an analytical framework comprised of citizenship studies, urban geography, and sociological research on stigmatization, we assess participants’ perspectives of their respective communities, their understanding of the typology of homelessness, and how they enact particular kinds of public behaviours. We find that the participants’ public behaviours adapt to the place identity of their community to avoid stigmatization. The participants’ public behaviours are illustrative of how modern citizenship has been reconfigured under capitalism.
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publisher Western Libraries, The University of Western Ontario
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series International Journal on Homelessness
spelling doaj-art-8d42a11d838e4f59beffe606697fa5212025-08-20T01:47:54ZengWestern Libraries, The University of Western OntarioInternational Journal on Homelessness2564-310X2024-12-015115216910.5206/ijoh.2023.3.1723511493Citizenship and NIMBYism: Identities at the Juncture of Homelessness, Place, and IdeologyJason Webb0https://orcid.org/0009-0001-3945-9922Erin Dej1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0339-1989BC First Nations Justice Council/Wilfrid Laurier UniversityWilfrid Laurier UniversityNot in my back yard (NIMBY)ism is a form of anti-homeless discrimination intended to displace people experiencing homelessness from urban spaces. While research on anti-homeless discrimination is abundant, the Canadian literature has yet to explore the political dimensions of this type of discrimination. International researchers have studied the connections between homelessness and citizenship, and we take up this theoretical work in this study. We present interview data from people experiencing homelessness in three mid-sized cities in Ontario. Using an analytical framework comprised of citizenship studies, urban geography, and sociological research on stigmatization, we assess participants’ perspectives of their respective communities, their understanding of the typology of homelessness, and how they enact particular kinds of public behaviours. We find that the participants’ public behaviours adapt to the place identity of their community to avoid stigmatization. The participants’ public behaviours are illustrative of how modern citizenship has been reconfigured under capitalism.https://ojs.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/ijoh/article/view/17235homelessnesscitizenshipidentitymid-sized citiesnimbyismplace
spellingShingle Jason Webb
Erin Dej
Citizenship and NIMBYism: Identities at the Juncture of Homelessness, Place, and Ideology
International Journal on Homelessness
homelessness
citizenship
identity
mid-sized cities
nimbyism
place
title Citizenship and NIMBYism: Identities at the Juncture of Homelessness, Place, and Ideology
title_full Citizenship and NIMBYism: Identities at the Juncture of Homelessness, Place, and Ideology
title_fullStr Citizenship and NIMBYism: Identities at the Juncture of Homelessness, Place, and Ideology
title_full_unstemmed Citizenship and NIMBYism: Identities at the Juncture of Homelessness, Place, and Ideology
title_short Citizenship and NIMBYism: Identities at the Juncture of Homelessness, Place, and Ideology
title_sort citizenship and nimbyism identities at the juncture of homelessness place and ideology
topic homelessness
citizenship
identity
mid-sized cities
nimbyism
place
url https://ojs.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/ijoh/article/view/17235
work_keys_str_mv AT jasonwebb citizenshipandnimbyismidentitiesatthejunctureofhomelessnessplaceandideology
AT erindej citizenshipandnimbyismidentitiesatthejunctureofhomelessnessplaceandideology