Title of Project
“Through the Dignity of Work”: The Tension Between Hegemony and Counter-Hegemony in the Remediation of Homelessness Taking Place in Santa Cruz, CA
Division
Social Sciences
Course or Program
Community Studies
Description / Abstract
In 2020, I conducted 6 months of full-time field work in Santa Cruz with the organization, Downtown Streets Team (DST), who’s stated mission is to “solve homelessness through the dignity of work,” and runs a volunteer, work-experience program for people experiencing homelessness. My project draws from my field work and seeks to highlight how DST reproduces oppressive power structures and simultaneously challenges said structures. I argue that DST is part of and reinscribes neoliberal-capitalist rugged individualism, welfare-state incompetency, scarcity, and social stratification. However, I also argue that DST meaningfully challenges these oppressive forces by facilitating harm reduction through meaningful activity, centering participants’ lived experiences of homelessness, and building community and social capital. Involving people experiencing homelessness in organizational activities that challenge oppressive forces, which contribute to their wellbeing and dignity, is an important aspect of DST’s work; this aspect should be considered when reimagining the norms that rule unhoused folks’ subordinated positions in our communities.
