In 1981, the General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1987 as the International Year of Shelter for the Homeless (IYSH), to raise the consciousness of the world to the estimated 100 million people who have no shelter, and to the 1 billion who lack a secure, permanent home which they can afford. This dissertation contributes to the goals and objectives of the IYSH, and introduces conceptual and practical considerations which are pertinent to a geographic examination of homelessness in Canada. Field observations from across the country are integrated with a critical appraisal of the international literature to demonstrate that the spatial distribution and diversity of the homeless are related to physical shelter problems and to a combination of individual, social and economic precipitants which produce homelessness at a variety of regional, community and household scales. Three broad categories among the homeless in Canada are identified: those who are inadequately housed; those who are economically disenfranchised, and those who are socially marginalised and service-dependent. Homelessness is shown to be linked to a wide range of human, social and economic problems, for individuals and families, for communities and for society as a whole. It is defined as the absence of a continuing or permanent home over which people have personal control, and which provides the essential needs of shelter, privacy and security at an affordable cost, together with ready access to social, economic, health and cultural public services. In various regions of the country the problems historically have been chronic; in others, they are spatially and temporally episodic. It is argued here that the problem constitutes a legitimate focus of academic inquiry which is of significance and relevance to geography. Case examples are presented to show: homelessness results from the reciprocal relations between individuals and social processes; these relations are manifest in identifiable spatial forms; these spatial arrangements in turn influence the composition of the homeless and the sources of homelessness. Geographic considerations contribute to an understanding of homelessness in Canada through an analysis of how individual action, social processes and spatial relations are linked to the genesis and persistence of homelessness. By showing how certain events and conditions precipitate and exacerbate homeless-related problems, evidence is presented that the problems in Canada cannot be reduced to single-factor causal explanations. Despite regional and temporal variations, and the establishment of a social welfare safety net, poverty, unemployment and inadequate social assistance benefits have historically influenced the form of homelessness. The effects of deinstitutionalisation and revitalisation have significantly altered the structure of the inner city and the vital role which these areas play in providing a supportive community for the socially marginalised homeless. As living conditions have improved, housing problems of the homeless have shifted to concerns over affordability and the lack of low-cost accommodation. Two significant conclusions emerge: homelessness is not a problem OF cities; but IS amenable to public policy intervention, of which housing is a vital but not exclusive part of creating a place to call home. Given the classification of the homeless and the recognition that homelessness is manifest at varying geographic scales, differential policies, programmes and housing alternatives are required to assist the homeless and reduce homelessness. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

In April 2005, a group of women gathered for a human rights workshop at a Toronto drop-in centre for women experiencing homelessness, poverty, and isolation. One year later, the group sent a representative to address the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. This dissertation describes and analyzes the feminist participatory action research-intervention project that began with the workshop and led to the United Nations. Over the course of 15 months, more than 50 participants attended weekly meetings at the drop-in. They learned about social and economic rights, testified about their experiences of human rights violations, and planned and undertook actions to respond to and resist homelessness. This thesis draws upon observations of meetings, documents produced by the group, and interviews with thirteen of the participants, in order to examine the project from a number of angles. First, the project suggests a new understanding of women’s homelessness: testimonies and interviews reveal that homelessness is not only a material state, but more importantly a social process of disenfranchisement enacted through relations of harm, threat, control, surveillance, precarity and dehumanization. Understanding homelessness as a social process enables an analysis of its operations within and for a dominant social and economic order structured by colonization and neoliberal globalization. Secondly, the thesis takes up participants’ assessments of the project’s political effectiveness and its impacts on their well-being and empowerment, and reads these against the researcher’s experiences with the project, in order to explore how feminist participatory methodologies can contribute to resistance. Finally, the thesis concludes with recommendations for theory, research, service provision, and human rights advocacy on women’s homelessness.

In April 2005, a group of women gathered for a human rights workshop at a Toronto drop-in centre for women experiencing homelessness, poverty, and isolation. One year later, the group sent a representative to address the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. This dissertation describes and analyzes the feminist participatory action research-intervention project that began with the workshop and led to the United Nations. Over the course of 15 months, more than 50 participants attended weekly meetings at the drop-in. They learned about social and economic rights, testified about their experiences of human rights violations, and planned and undertook actions to respond to and resist homelessness. This thesis draws upon observations of meetings, documents produced by the group, and interviews with thirteen of the participants, in order to examine the project from a number of angles. First, the project suggests a new understanding of women’s homelessness: testimonies and interviews reveal that homelessness is not only a material state, but more importantly a social process of disenfranchisement enacted through relations of harm, threat, control, surveillance, precarity and dehumanization. Understanding homelessness as a social process enables an analysis of its operations within and for a dominant social and economic order structured by colonization and neoliberal globalization. Secondly, the thesis takes up participants’ assessments of the project’s political effectiveness and its impacts on their well-being and empowerment, and reads these against the researcher’s experiences with the project, in order to explore how feminist participatory methodologies can contribute to resistance. Finally, the thesis concludes with recommendations for theory, research, service provision, and human rights advocacy on women’s homelessness.