ABSTRACT

The Unequal Homeless explores the persistence, as opposed to the occurrence, of homelessness. With this focus, which is absent in most of the contemporary homelessness literature, the author shows how cultural expressions of beliefs about gender difference help to perpetuate the homelessness of particular groups of people in New York City. The people who are persistently homeless in New York are, overwhelmingly, black men. The reason, Passaro contends, is that homelessness is not simply an economic predicament, but a cultural and moral location as well.

chapter 1|14 pages

Introduction

chapter 2|20 pages

House and Home

chapter 3|25 pages

Beyond the Panopticon

The Nuclear Family, Men, and Social Control

chapter 4|20 pages

“Sex or Survival”

The Limits of Gender in the Lives of Homeless Women

chapter 5|23 pages

Imagined Immunities

Policing Public Space and Reinscribing a Gendered Private Realm

chapter 6|4 pages

Conclusion