Homelessness and South Africa’s smaller cities: Unique opportunities to end street homelessness?

Abstract

Peer review declarationThe publisher (AOSIS) endorses the South African 'National Scholarly Book Publishers Forum Best Practice for Peer Review of Scholarly Books'. The manuscript was subjected to rigorous two-step peer review prior to publication, with the identities of the reviewers not revealed to the author(s). The reviewers were independent of the publishers and/or authors in question. The reviewers commented positively on the scholarly merits of the manuscript and recommended that the manuscript be published. Where the reviewers recommended revision and/or improvements to the manuscript, the authors responded adequately to such recommendations.v Research JustificationThis scholarly publication is intended to contribute to an emerging body of knowledge on street homelessness in the South African context. The target audience comprises research specialists focusing on finding solutions for homelessness; however, it would be accessible to a diverse readership. It offers both conceptual frameworks and practical guidelines for a liberative and transformative response to homelessness. It brings together authors from a wide range of disciplines, fusing the rigour of researchers, the vision of activists and the lived experience of practitioners. This volume traces the causes and identifies the diverse faces of street homelessness in South Africa today. It critiques singular solutions and interrogates the political, institutional and moral failures that contribute to the systemic exclusion of homeless persons and other vulnerable populations from society. It then proposes various rights-based interventions as part of a radical re-imagination of how street homelessness can be ended, one person and one neighbourhood at a time. In 'facing homelessness', we face the other, and in facing the other, we face ourselves. Grounding this exploration in the thought of Emmanuel Levinas (1969:207), it is appropriate to recall his words: '[T]he Other faces me and puts me in question and obliges me'. The political, institutional, moral and personal obligations that confront society in the face and presence of street homelessness, urban vulnerability and deep socio-economic inequality have to be considered, embraced and accounted for. However, these are not merely philosophical mutterings, as a liberationist framework prompts imaginative actions for change. The immersive and in-depth social analysis by the authors steer researchers in the direction of new ways of doing and being that could indeed demonstrate concrete, viable and sustainable alternatives to the exclusionary realities that are so visible in the face of street homelessness. 'Finding inclusionary, collaborative solutions' is therefore the sub-title of this publication, indicating its intention to contribute to solutions-based scholarship aimed at radical forms of social inclusion and achieved through broad based and creative collaborations by all spheres of society. Drawing on local and global lessons learnt and the specific lessons from successful and failed responses d...