Cargando…

Governed by atmospheres: Affect, materiality and everyday benevolence in homeless encampments during the COVID-19 pandemic

This article explores the operation of homeless encampments as a part of governance by highlighting the role of affective atmospheres. The COVID-19 pandemic and the imposition of lockdowns have seen the introduction of unprecedented measures into homelessness governance in Czech cities. Some have se...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Vašát, Petr, Váně, Jan
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: SAGE Publications 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9895297/
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00420980221149313
_version_ 1784881888531316736
author Vašát, Petr
Váně, Jan
author_facet Vašát, Petr
Váně, Jan
author_sort Vašát, Petr
collection PubMed
description This article explores the operation of homeless encampments as a part of governance by highlighting the role of affective atmospheres. The COVID-19 pandemic and the imposition of lockdowns have seen the introduction of unprecedented measures into homelessness governance in Czech cities. Some have set up temporary homeless encampments as a response to the declaration of the state of emergency. Relying on interviews and observations, this article reveals that such measures in cities differed significantly in both character and outcomes. Based on a repeated instances comparison of the socio-material and affective entanglements of operating two emergency encampments – one in the regional city of Pilsen and the other in the capital city of Prague – the article argues that affective atmospheres play a vital role in their practical operations and perceived outcomes. While no simple dichotomy is implied, in Pilsen, order was implemented through a surveillance logic that instigated conflicts and created an atmosphere of frustration, while in Prague, the benevolence and mutuality of people in the camp led to a relaxed atmosphere. The article introduces the notion of ‘governed by atmospheres’ and argues that it opens space for a more complex and nuanced examination of the unintended outcomes of particular policies and politics in homelessness governance.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-9895297
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2023
publisher SAGE Publications
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-98952972023-02-03 Governed by atmospheres: Affect, materiality and everyday benevolence in homeless encampments during the COVID-19 pandemic Vašát, Petr Váně, Jan Urban Stud Article This article explores the operation of homeless encampments as a part of governance by highlighting the role of affective atmospheres. The COVID-19 pandemic and the imposition of lockdowns have seen the introduction of unprecedented measures into homelessness governance in Czech cities. Some have set up temporary homeless encampments as a response to the declaration of the state of emergency. Relying on interviews and observations, this article reveals that such measures in cities differed significantly in both character and outcomes. Based on a repeated instances comparison of the socio-material and affective entanglements of operating two emergency encampments – one in the regional city of Pilsen and the other in the capital city of Prague – the article argues that affective atmospheres play a vital role in their practical operations and perceived outcomes. While no simple dichotomy is implied, in Pilsen, order was implemented through a surveillance logic that instigated conflicts and created an atmosphere of frustration, while in Prague, the benevolence and mutuality of people in the camp led to a relaxed atmosphere. The article introduces the notion of ‘governed by atmospheres’ and argues that it opens space for a more complex and nuanced examination of the unintended outcomes of particular policies and politics in homelessness governance. SAGE Publications 2023-01-31 /pmc/articles/PMC9895297/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00420980221149313 Text en © Urban Studies Journal Limited 2023 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits non-commercial use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
spellingShingle Article
Vašát, Petr
Váně, Jan
Governed by atmospheres: Affect, materiality and everyday benevolence in homeless encampments during the COVID-19 pandemic
title Governed by atmospheres: Affect, materiality and everyday benevolence in homeless encampments during the COVID-19 pandemic
title_full Governed by atmospheres: Affect, materiality and everyday benevolence in homeless encampments during the COVID-19 pandemic
title_fullStr Governed by atmospheres: Affect, materiality and everyday benevolence in homeless encampments during the COVID-19 pandemic
title_full_unstemmed Governed by atmospheres: Affect, materiality and everyday benevolence in homeless encampments during the COVID-19 pandemic
title_short Governed by atmospheres: Affect, materiality and everyday benevolence in homeless encampments during the COVID-19 pandemic
title_sort governed by atmospheres: affect, materiality and everyday benevolence in homeless encampments during the covid-19 pandemic
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9895297/
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00420980221149313
work_keys_str_mv AT vasatpetr governedbyatmospheresaffectmaterialityandeverydaybenevolenceinhomelessencampmentsduringthecovid19pandemic
AT vanejan governedbyatmospheresaffectmaterialityandeverydaybenevolenceinhomelessencampmentsduringthecovid19pandemic