Expulsion: A Type of Forced Mobility Experienced by Homeless People in Canada

In the last 30 years, researchers have increasingly examined (im)mobility to understand why homelessness continues in the Global North. Studies consistently identify how people experiencing homelessness are excluded and displaced. However, the relationship between social and spatial marginalization is not well understood. In this article, I argue that a more complete understanding of mobility requires joint attention to social exclusion and spatial displacement. I develop the concept of expulsion to examine homeless mobilities. I draw on data from a longitudinal survey of homeless people’s inter-regional mobilities over ten years in Canada. I identify six modes of expulsion: residential expulsions, service exclusions, warehousing, racial banishments, violent expulsions, and ostracism. In each of these instances, people are mobilized to the social exterior while they are simultaneously displaced spatially. By developing a theory of expulsion, this paper contributes a new framework for understanding forced migration, coerced mobility, and involuntary displacement.

Publication Date: 
2021
Journal Name: 
Urban Geography