Analyzing care and control dynamics in homelessness discourses in Reno, Nevada.

Keywords: homelessness management, geographies of homelessness, care and control dynamics, public discourses, public policy, rhetorical analysis
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Sunday
Session Start / End Time: 2/27/2022 09:40 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/27/2022 11:00 AM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 60

Abstract

Contemporary homelessness management policies are based on a combination of care and control practices that create complex policy landscapes. In that line, local governments may actively fund and support homeless shelters and voluntary organizations while sweeping informal encampments and developing anti-homeless ordinances and infrastructure. This care/control tension inherent to contemporary homelessness public policy is widely studied in the literature of the geographies of homelessness. However, the literature has usually focused on the study of public laws and ordinances, the contestation of public and institutional spaces, and the lived experience of homeless individuals. In this paper, I address the discursive articulation of the care/control duality in the context of homelessness political debates. The analysis is focused on the case of Reno, Nevada, where the authorities recently inaugurated the Nevada Cares Campus – a ‘secured campus’ type of facility concentrating homelessness services and multiple sheltering modes in a single location. The development of the campus sparked intense discussions about homelessness and housing affordability that resonated in the local media and public debates. This paper uses textual and rhetorical analysis to review official documents and public statements of city officials, public servants, and homeless advocates to disentangle 1)what are the main codes used in homelessness debates in Reno; 2)how are these codes framing public debates and policies; and 3)how public discourses reflect the dualistic care/control dynamics of homelessness management studied in the literature of the geographies of homelessness.