Worlding the geographies of homelessness: Informality, precarity, and theory from the Global South

Abstract

Millions of people across the world today live without access to safe, stable housing. Geography has contributed greatly to current understandings of homelessness and pushed the broader field of homelessness studies to challenge the unequal power relations embedded in our homes, institutions, and cities. This short reflection presents a brief overview of some key insights of geographical research on homelessness and argues that geography's contributions could be strengthened by taking a more global approach to the problem. Building on the concept of ‘worlding’, I argue that the discipline can move beyond its focus on European and North American dynamics, broaden its narrow conception of homelessness to include analysis of informality and housing precarity, and engage a more diverse repertoire of theoretical frameworks for understanding the problem.