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Caring at the borders of the human: homeless people and
their companion animalsHelen Carr [email protected] and Caroline Hunter
Talk at the International Institute for the Sociology of Law - Oñati
Date: 12th February 2014
Outline
Introduction Themes of the book methodologies
Human Animal studies
Companion animals in contemporary culture
The homeless and companion animals
Bringing the law back in – shifting jurisdictions and legal geographies
Progressive projects
Introduction
Exploration via homelessness of how we live our lives with law
What contribution can critical/feminist socio-legal scholarship make to social welfare debates?
What is missing from socio-legal scholarship which might prove productive?
Key themes
Working at the borders Interface of the technical/doctrinal and the
theoretical Limits of the state Inclusion/exclusion
Scale and jurisdiction
Citizenship
care
Starting points
Homelessness as liberal legal exceptionalism Liberal autonomous man Fluidity of categories of exception Draconian consequences of exclusion
Leonard Feldman ‘Citizens without Shelter: Homelessness Democracy and political exclusion ‘ the homeless become ‘outlaws’ , non-citizens, who are ‘both
outside of the law’s protection (exclusion) and subject to law’s punishment (inclusion) (Feldman 2004: 101). For Feldman it is not simply the punitive responses to homeless people that reduces them to a form of bare life, compassionate responses have the same effect.
Points of development and departure
Value Understanding homelessness as a political problem Need to avoid misrecognising the homeless Acknowledgement of the important of legislative and judicial
constructions of homelessness Need for a pluralised understanding of home
Concern Overemphasis on punitive role of state Too easy dismissal of compassion and care in connection with the
homeless
‘mainstream accounts of urban injustice – largely fixated on the punitive – are disconnected from the more ambiguous, if not supportive approaches to how vulnerable goups are managed ‘on the ground’ (DeVerteuil 2012:1)
Multiple methodologies
Why homeless people and their pets?
where humans live ‘very closely and purposefully with other species, …it goes without saying that (their) stories cannot properly be told without including the full cast of supporting actors’ (Franklin 2006:138).
May help Avoid polarities of cultural representations of the homeless enable the re-imagination ‘categories of public, citizenship, home and
justice in responding to the contemporary traps and blind alleys of homeless politics’ (Feldman 2004 :24).
productive vantage point from which to explore care and homelessness because it highlights a close and perhaps unexpected juxtaposition of care and control Challenges accounts of social provision as relentlessly punitive disrupts the normative asymmetry of care and dependency.
Human Animal studies
seeks to understand animals in the context of human society
‘In times of liquid modernity, makeover culture and an experimental, playful and open-ended domesticity, we must begin to bring in perspectives that can cope with this complexity, with its relational materialism, its socio-technical hybridity and semiotics’ (Franklin 2006:138).
Theoretical concerns
Animal rights
Challenging the boundary between the human and the animal
Feminists and lawyers have much to contribute and gain from the debate Haraway, Seager, Sarat and Fox
Seagar 2003: 168
Elucidating the commonalities in structures of oppressions across gender, race, class, and species; developing feminist-informed theories of the basis for allocating ‘rights’ to animals; and exposing the gendered assumptions and perceptions that underlie human relationships to non-human animals. At the same time, the serious contemplation of animal rights makes a considerable contribution to destabilizing identity categories and adds new dimensions to theorizing the mutability of identity
Companion animals in contemporary society
Growth in pet ownership, and accompanying economy
Move from ownership and ornament to companionship and protection
Why?
Rooted in contemporary ontological insecurity ‘humans began to build social and emotional ties with
animals because it had become increasingly difficult for them to establish and maintain such ties among themselves’ (Franklin 1999:36)
Productive source This ‘lived intersubjectivity’ of two beings sharing a
messy, awkward, loving relationship provides an ideal opportunity for thinking practically about some of the real-life dilemmas presented in recent theoretical challenges to the animal – humandivideand helps us go beyond theories of destabilized categories to the complex theorizations and practices of everyday life (Fox 2006: 535)
Homeless people and their companion animals
"Bob the cat rescued me from drugs": How sick stray inspired addict to sell one million
James had been a homeless heroin addict for more than a decade when he found stray, injured Bob.The inspiring tail (!) of their unlikely friendship has now sold 750,000 copies in the UK alone, and been translated into 27 languages.As James tells it: “Our story seemed to connect with people who were facing difficult times in their lives. Hundreds of them wrote to me or contacted us via social media. I was immensely proud.”
My Dog Always Eats First: Homeless People and their Animals Leslie Irvine 2013
Interviews with 75 homeless pet owners in California and Florida
Narratives of human-animal relationships Friend and family The pack of two Protectors Lifechangers and Lifesavers
Strategies for coping with stigma Redefining ‘good’ pet ownership to cope with the
realities of their everyday existence
Irvine’s conclusions
Caring and feeling cared for seem to improve people’s sense of self worth
Strategy for including silenced or marginalized voices
Includes – via acts of translation - animal’s voices – provides insights into how people construct the identities of animals and simultaneously construct identities for themselves.
Animals as home
We treat animals ‘as if’ they were friends or family, but we reserve these statuses for other humans. Homeless people challenge the ‘as if’ qualification because for many of them, their animals truly are their sole sources of affection and close companionship 159
‘You know, when you have a home, your relationships with animals take place at home. But when you’re homeless, they are your home.’ 85
The narratives also serve as a reminder that we can only understand and meet the needs of the homeless if we take their relationships with their pets seriously. 85
Animals and the meanings of home
Parsell - Home refers to something that people do experience, and something, moreover, held in high regard. In this respect, home has meaning on social, emotional, spiritual and material levels. It is a complex and multi-dimensional concept, and any conceptualisation needs to be attuned to the dynamic meaning making process people attribute to it
Public places the antithesis of home
For Irvine, family and friends narratives provide a balm, stability and certainty in the midst of uncertainty and contingency
Because it exists in a realm apart from the street, the relationship provides a point of permanence in a shifting terrain of the self
reforming the public
Resistance to stigma enabled by pet food donations etc from the public
Income enhancement
Channel of communication
Jurisdictional forms and companion animals
What does it mean to own dogs responsibly in the UK?
The Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 Responsibility is to the public Categorizes certain breeds as dangerous Criminal offence to allow a dog to be out of control
in a public place
The Animal Welfare Act 2006 Responsibility to the animal Prevention of suffering
Index of Exempted dogs
Jamie and his dog Chucky live in a St Mungos hostel in London. Jamie became homeless after a relationship breakdown and spent months sofa surfing and rough sleeping before he was helped by the St Mungos outreach team. Chucky is legally registered on the Index of Exempted Dogs as an American Pit Bull Terrier after being seized by police. Due to his gentle nature and the fact that he poses no risk to the public, he was released back into Jamie’s care. The restrictions placed on Chucky by the DDA do make life difficult for Jamie and he sometimes finds it difficult to give Chucky the exercise he needs. But he wouldn’t be without him. As Jamie says “I’ve had Chucky since he was 8 weeks old. We’ve got such a strong bond. I’d never have him put to sleep because he was inconvenient to me. He really is a part of me”.
Contingent destruction order
Fee £92.40
Time limit 2 months
Index number for dog must be produced on demand
Third party liability insurance
dog must be neutered, tattooed and microchipped
The Dogs Trust Hope Project
Helps homeless people navigate the dangerous dogs act
provides free and subsidised veterinary treatment to dogs whose owners are homeless or in housing crisis
Advises hostels, shelters and day centres on accepting clients with dogs.
Oxford City Council dog warden service
Oxford City Council dog warden service
Chipping and tagging dogs for homeless owners
Providing collars and leashes
