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FROM POLITICAL PROTEST TO BUREAUCRATIC SERVICE: THE TRANSFORMATION OF HOMELESS ADVOCACY IN THE NATION'S CAPITAL AND THE ECLIPSE OF POLITICAL DISCOURSE By Christine Marie Elwell Submitted to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of American University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy In Anthropology Chair: ~~ "2-- /()~ ;2&pt? Date 2008 American University Washington, D.C. 20016 ftMER!CAN UNIVERSLiY LIBRt'\RY C\ 'b \ 0 UMI Number: 3338297 Copyright 2008 by Elwell, Christine Marie All rights reserved. INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. ® UMI UMI Microform 3338297 Copyright 2009 by ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 E. Eisenhower Parkway PO Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 481 06-1346 ©COPYRIGHT by Christine Marie Elwell 2008 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED To Bill, Fred, Curtis and others whom have paid the ultimate price FROM POLITICAL PROTEST TO BUREAUCRATIC SERVICE: THE TRANSFORMATION OF HOMELESS ADVOCACY IN THE NATION'S CAPITAL AND THE ECLIPSE OF POLITICAL DISCOURSE BY Christine Elwell ABSTRACT This research project is an ethnohistorical account of the development and retrenchment of advocacy and social service efforts around homelessness in Washington, D.C. between 1970 and 2006. These historical struggles are comprehended through the perspectives of homeless men and women, their advocates, professional providers, volunteers, congregations, clergy, public employees, and political leaders. Not surprisingly, the movement and its many campaigns bring into relief the persistent struggle around strategy, representation, and authority over homeless issues. In the span of almost four decades, radical civil disobedience expanded and contracted dramatically as a result of government outsourcing, official retaliation, industry professionalization, and the retirement of many of the movement's dynamic leaders. Nonprofit contracting has not only obscured the ways that well meaning communities have subsidized poverty, but has also deflected the political energy of activists and compromised broad based grassroots political activism. Consequently, 11 collective interest organizing and expansive coalition building have been undermined by special interest politics both within the homeless community and between other classes of poor. Broad based advocacy has been replaced by strategic, individualized and programmatic advocacy that has made building alliances that much more difficult. Homeless relief has shifted from emergency, volunteer, ad hoc efforts, to formalized nonprofit programs managed by professionals and organized by funding priorities. After being such a critical part of homeless relief, political involvement has become less of a priority, to be substituted by a clearer delineation of advocacy and social service roles. Even volunteers, once the core of resistance efforts and ad hoc emergency assistance, have been largely corralled into direct service roles. Commitments to prevent and eliminate homelessness have given way to managing the problem. Advocates' petitions have shifted from demanding homeless resources to improving existing service networks while neglecting systemic issues that could make a lasting difference for poor and homeless folks. This paper concludes that homelessness will only be resolved through major structural change, made possible through a strong, broad based social justice network that incorporates a range of strategies and popular support, offering creative solutions and given by leadership that offers both compromise and pressure when appropriate. lll TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ......................................................................................... .ii Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION ...................................................................... 1 2. GRASSROOTS MOBILIZATION: CHARITY AND JUSTICE DURING THE 1970's ...................................... ; ........................................... 38 3. THE HOMELESS WARS: PUBLIC RESPONSIBILITY AND OFFICIAL RELUCTANCE IN THE 1980's .........................................................76 4. RESISTANCE AND RETALIATION IN THE 1990's: WASHINGTON'S PROPERTIED CITIZEN'S PUSH BACK ............................................ 183 5. DEMOBILIZATION AND DEPOLITICIZATION: PROGRESS, COMPLACENCY AND "BUREAUCRATIC" ADVOCACY IN THE NEW MILLENIUM ............................................................................... 287 6. CONCLUSION ........................................................................ 335 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................. 348 IV CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION In.many ways, this study of protest and advocacy around the homeless poor is a biography of a social movement that spans nearly forty years, as seen through the eyes of the many actors that made the movement thrive, change, fragment, and dissolve. However, this is not a simple progression of historical details that neatly inform the present. It is rather, an ethnohistorical account of the development and retrenchment of advocacy efforts between 1970 and 2006. These historical struggles are comprehended through the perspectives of homeless men and women, their advocates, professional providers, volunteers, congregations, clergy, public employees, and political leaders. Not surprisingly, the movement and its many campaigns bring into relief the persistent struggle around strategy, representation, and authority over homeless issues. For the many volunteers, citizens, leaders and service providers in Washington, D.C., what does advocacy mean and what socio-political and economic structures have shaped political attitudes and involvement over time? How have activist efforts evolved and taken shape over the last four decades? And most importantly, what are the implications of these changes for people who find themselves homeless? The following chapters are a critical documentation of the history of activism surrounding homelessness and social services in Washington, D.C. Through an examination of historical processes that have shaped the 2 current activist context, I explore how the focus of socio-political change within the anti- homeless movement has narrowed significantly in the last few decades. As disenfranchisement and disempowerment remain key challenges for citizens of all classes in the 21 51 century, the following study examines what implications this may have for building coalitions and effecting broad based social change. Each chapter follows themes in the city, social service providers, advocates, political activism and coalitions as they relate to homeless advocacy. Fragmentation and depoliticization are major threads that run throughout this work, encompassing city and federal bureaucracies, social service provision, as well as advocacy efforts. It traces the conflicting visions of community, charity and service, justice, advocacy and political engagement, as well as volunteerism. This research also documents locally specific as well as national trends and their implications for Washington, D.C. According to nonprofit scholar Pablo Eisenberg, between the 1960' s and the mid- 1980' s, advocacy movements achieved major victories, an illustration of how socially concerned organizing peaked and then waned at the end of the century. 1 Washington, D.C. too was once home to a vibrant activist network that coalesced around poverty and homeless social justice issues. Organizing began with a core group of religiously motivated individuals who were dedicated to the biblical focus of meeting people's needs. But many were equally committed to social justice and social change. Often stirring people's conscience and sometimes crossing the line, these advocates initiated a movement that brought attention and legitimacy to homelessness. This period of intense 1 Pablo Eisenberg. Challenges for Nonprofits and Philanthropy: The Courage to Change, ed. Stacy Palmer (Medford, MA: Tufts University Press, 2004), 4-5. 3 1 social activism in the latter part of the 20 h century departs significantly from preceding decades, owing in large part to local organizations providing assistance and the unprecedented numbers of individuals willing to donate time and money.2 Why then, rather than reach its full potential, did the movement suffer a premature decline? And how do we account for what motivated or (dis)empowered people? Eisenberg points to the conservative revolution that beginning in the 1980' s, which dampened creative political mobilization. At the same time, antipoverty efforts were on the decline, which had previously electrified so many. Finally, he points to the magnificent growth of nonprofit social service organizations who became increasingly dependent on public funds, foundation money or corporate grants, most of which could not be used for political purposes. During this time, passionate supporters in the metro area thrived and fed off their opposition to official callousness in a highly charged environment.