Social and Spatial Dimensions of Homelessness in Athens
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Title: Social and Spatial Dimensions of Homelessness in Athens: Welfare Networks and Practices of Care Professionals By Vassilios Petrou Arapoglou The London School of Economics and Political Science 2002 Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) UMI Number: U171992 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U171992 Published by ProQuest LLC 2014. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 POLITICAL f44£:S£-S F 961+73,0 1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Acknowledgements go to my friends, family, and teachers for their support and advice. I would also like to extend my appreciation to all the people who gave so much of their time in interviews and to the homeless people who talked to me about some of their experiences in shelters and in institutions. To my friend Dimitris Christopoulos I owe the greatest debt because he has constantly provided support from the very beginning to the very end of the thesis and he encouraged me to continue in many difficult moments of this endeavour. Thanks go to my former colleagues in the ‘actual workplace* and particularly, to those who contributed to this research by sharing their information, linkages, and expertise: Sofia, Maria, Angeliki. This is also an opportunity to thank George and Katerina of 1 Arsis ’ for introducing me in the world of NGOs and the street magazine ‘Dromologia ’, particularly Lena and Xenia. Acknowledgements are due to Artemis and Mrs Koveou for providing valuable information and data on the charity work of the Church of Greece. Aris Sapounakis kindly provided the reports of the Observatory on Homelessness and Dimitris Emmanuel data of the DEPOS research on housing conditions in Athens. The meticulous editing of Geoffrey Cox has benefited the final English text of the thesis. I should not forget my friends who tolerated my changing moods through various phases of research (Sofia and Yanna first of all) and my Greek friends in London (particularly Paris and Agis). I also wish to thank Nikos Bozatzis for his helpful comments regarding discourse analysis in a period when I was trying to put material and ideas together. The financial support and encouragement of my parents was necessary to complete the thesis, and I want to thank them for supporting my effort. I also want to thank my brother for his penetrating comments, his 4 IT as well as his emotional support. Many thanks go to my teachers and advisors: First, I want to express my deepest thanks to Dr Perrons for her guidance on research focus and on raising the academic standard of my work, and also for her patience in long-distance supervision. Her comments and advice assisted me to take a critical distance from the context of research, encouraged me to develop, and reflect on my own perspective. I also want to thank Dr Chant for her instructive comments on various drafts of the thesis, Lila Leontidou for introducing me to the department of Geography at the LSE, Dr Pratt, and the Graduate School of Geography for supporting my application for a PhD. Last but not least, acknowledgements are due to Prof. M. Keith and Prof. S. Watson who examined the thesis and motivated me to pursuit several publications and further research. 1 ABSTRACT The thesis questions the official views that there is no homelessness in Athens by exploring the social constructions of homelessness adopted by central state, local state, church, and voluntary agencies that manage the homeless. In particular it explores whether available welfare provisions and the ensemble of networks of providers shape who and how many the homeless are, and where they reside. In Greece the issue has only recently been recognized, so existing literature is limited. Drawing upon the international literature I argue that the main dimensions of homelessness should be documented and analysed on different geographical scales. However, given the differentiated powers of providers within a welfare regime, their ideologies are crucial for the formal recognition and the every day treatment of homelessness. I suggest that the Greek welfare regime is a variant of familistic southern European ones, including networks between formal and informal providers, which contribute to socio-economic inequalities and to traditional social control of the urban poor. Using primary and secondary data I provide updated estimates for the extent of various levels of visible and invisible homelessness in Athens and I apply principal components analysis to map the distribution of homeless shelters and housing deprivation in the city. I find that substandard housing and makeshift arrangements conceal a poor population in city fringes and inner city areas and that asylums become poles hiding the homeless, and scattered charity shelters accommodate those without family support. From analysis of official documents, interviews with providers and observations from my own participation in various projects, I argue that four providers form distinct philanthropic networks and discourses, which I term bureaucratic, political, civil, and religious. Constrained by limited resources, fragmentation, and hierarchy, professionals resort to philanthropic discourses to acknowledge responsibility for different kinds of recipients exposed to different risks of homelessness. Exclusions select deserving from undeserving clients. These practices do not facilitate access to housing, income, employment, or good quality of care for the homeless. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 1 ABSTRACT 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 LIST OF TABLES 6 LIST OF FIGURES AND DIAGRAMS 6 LIST OF MAPS 6 LIST OF ACRONYMS 7 CHAPTER Is Introduction 1.1. Scope and objectives of the thesis 8 1.2. Outline of the thesis 10 1.3. Research methods 11 1.3.1. Interviewing 11 1.3.2. Participant observation 15 CHAPTER 2: Theoretical framework 2.1. Introduction 17 2.2. A suggested framework for research on homelessness 18 2.3. Dimensions and levels of homelessness 20 2.4. The scaling of dialectical explanations 21 2.5. The social formation 23 2.6. The urban complex 26 2.7. The management context 28 CHAPTER 3: Homelessness in theory and policy practice: an international perspective 3.1. Introduction: a historical and geographical view 31 3.1.1. A historical outline of homelessness in the USA 32 3.1.2. A historical outline of homelessness in Europe 33 3.2. Definitions: language or political games? 35 3.2.1. Defining homelessness globally 35 3.2.2. Defining homelessness in the US A 36 3.2.3. Defining homelessness in Europe 39 3.3. Research methods: documenting changing patterns of homelessness 42 3.3.1. Documenting homelessness globally 42 3.3.2. Documenting homelessness in the USA 43 3.3.3. Documenting homelessness in Europe 47 3.4. Explanations: individual or policy syndrome? 51 3.4.1. Explaining homelessness globally 51 3.4.2. Explaining homelessness in the USA 52 3.4.3. Explaining homelessness in Europe 59 3.5. Suggested treatments in the 1990s: management or advocacy networks? 64 3.5.1. Networking globally 64 3 3.5.2. Networking in the USA 65 3.5.3. Networking in Europe 69 3.6. Conclusions 74 CHAPTER 4: Housing and welfare strategies in Athens 4.1. Introduction 76 4.2. Urbanisation: population growth, employment structure and informality 77 4.2.1 Nineteenth century- World War II: the rise of capital and the formation of popular strata 78 4.2.2. The post-War period: from industrialisation and centralisation to deindustrialisation and stagnation 81 4.3. Housing and welfare: a review of the main approaches 85 4.4. Land-ownership, housing and the welfare state 90 4.5. Housing and welfare strategies: social integration and social exclusion 96 4.5.1. The eve of the twentieth century- World War II: social polarisation and widespread marginalisation 97 4.5.2. The post-War period: die limits of social homogenisation 102 4.6. Conclusions 118 CHAPTER 5: Social and spatial dimensions of homelessness in Athens 5.1. Introduction: objectives, methods and variables 120 5.2. Extent and levels of housing deprivation and homelessness 120 5.3. Findings of the principal component analysis 125 5.3.1. Identification of principal components 130 5.3.2. Analysis of principal components 132 5.4. Cluster results and analysis 138 5.4.1. Deduction of clusters 138 5.4.2. Analysis of housing variables 140 5.4.3. Analysis of social and demographic variables 143 5.4.4. Analysis of institutionalisation variables 145 5.4.5. Analysis of location quotients 146 5.5. Locating findings in the Greek and the international literature 151 5.6. Conclusions 156 CHAPTER 6: The management of homelessness: discourse, authority, and resources 6.1. Introduction: the management of homelessness 158 6.2. The official discourse on homelessness 159 6.2.1. Bureaucratic philanthropy 165 6.2.2. Political philanthropy 169 6.2.3. Civil philanthropy 173 6.2.4. Religious philanthropy 179 6.3. Management modes: authority rules and material resources 183 6.3.1. Organisation and authoritative capacity of professionals 183 6.3.2. Costs and financial management 193 6.3.3. Shelter specialisation and selection of clients 196 6.3.4. Accommodation and services 199 6.4. Conclusions 203 4 CHAPTER 7: The management of homelessness: discourse and practice 7.1. Introduction: discourse and practice 205 7.2.