2. Craig Willse
George Mason University
February 6, 2012
The College of Wooster
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
cwillse@gmail.com

3. methods

4. methods
discourse & materiality

5. A Diagram of Surplus Life

6. A Diagram of Surplus Life

7. A Diagram of Surplus Life

8. housing
homelessness
race

9. neoliberalism
urban “renewal”

10. Federal Intervention
McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act
1987

11. Two Case Studies

12. Two Case Studies
neoliberalization
biopoliticization

13. HMIS
Homeless Management Information System

14. “We talk about this all the time, like how the
paperwork just changes slightly every year.
Now they want us to use a logic model. And
every year there’s more components for
getting our pittance. Less than a quarter of
our annual budget comes from this money.
But it’s this huge hassle, and our other money
is kind of dependent upon it.
”

15. Domains and Scale
Domain Scale
1. Income
2. Employment
3. Housing 1 = In Crisis
4. Food
5. Childcare
2 = Vulnerable
6. Children’s Education
7. Adult Education
8. Legal 3 = Safe
9. Health Care
10. Life Skills 4 = Building Capacity
11. Mental Health
12. Substance Abuse 5 = Empowered
13. Family Relations
14. Mobility
15. Community Involvement
12
Abt Associates, “Arizona’s Homeless Evaluation Project” (2006)

16. Goals of the Project
• Conscious shift from focus on outputs to investing in
outcomes
• Reduce the gap between knowledge and practice
! Which programs are effective?
! What interventions produce results?
! Where do we target investment?
2
Abt Associates, “Arizona’s Homeless Evaluation Project” (2006)

17. Chronic Homelessness

18. U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, “From Good to Better to Great:
Innovations 10-Year Plans”

19. “ I think we have the same interests. The
business community in Downtown, some
of the leaders are a little bit . . . hard to
swallow. But we have the same interests,
right? I mean, I don’t think they give a
crap about homeless people, but they
wanna see no one sleep on the street, and
we wanna see no one sleep on the street.
”

20. In general, being older, of black race, having a
substance abuse or mental health problem, or
having a physical disability, significantly
reduces the likelihood of exiting shelter.
Dennis Culhane and Randall Kuhn,“Patterns and Determinants
of Public Shelter Utilization Among Homeless Adults in New
York City and Philadelphia” (1998)

21. Conclusions
Keynesian labor neoliberal surplus life

22. neoliberalism
and the family

23. New York Times Magazine
April 27, 2008

24. New York Times
April 9, 2009

25. New York Times
April 9, 2009
With their furniture
in storage, Mia Dennis,
Brandon Brown and their
daughter, Amelia, sleep on
mattresses in their family's
illegally reclaimed
home.

26. New York Times
May 5, 2009

27. New York Times
May 5, 2009
Since an eviction threat,
Christine A. Lewis has had to
borrow furniture and clothing.
Her own things are stuck
in storage.