Description
Book SynopsisLos Angeles, California, and Berlin, Germany, have been dubbed homeless capitals for having the largest homeless populations of their respective countries. In Down and Out in Los Angeles and Berlin, Jurgen von Mahs provides an illuminating comparative analysis of the impact of social welfare policy on homelessness in these cities. He addresses the opportunity of people to overcome-or exit-homelessness and shows why Berlin, despite its considerable social and economic investment for assisting its homeless, has been almost as unsuccessful as Los Angeles. Drawing on fascinating ethnographic insights, von Mahs shows how homeless people in both cities face sociospatial exclusion-legal displacement for criminal activities, poor shelters in impoverished neighborhoods, as well as market barriers that restrict reintegration. Providing a necessary wake-up call, Down and Out in Los Angeles and Berlin addresses the critical public policy issues that can produce effective services to improve homele
Table of ContentsPreface Acknowledgments Commonly Used Abbreviations 1 Different Welfare Regimes, Similar Outcomes? The Impact of Public Policy on Homeless People's Exit Chances in Berlin and Los Angeles 2 Homeless Spaces, Homeless Lives: Using Ethnography to Assess Homeless People's Life Courses and Exit Chances in Berlin 3 Not Allowed: Legal Exclusion, Human Rights, and Global Capital 4 Not Wanted: Containment, Warehousing, and Service Exclusion 5 Not Needed: Market Exclusion, Exit Strategies, and the Specter of Neoliberalism 6 Sociospatial Exclusion of Homeless People: Comparative Perspective Postscript Appendix 1: Biographical Sketches of Respondents in Berlin Appendix 2: Key Informants Notes References Index
