From accidents of life to permanent precariousness ---- For many of us,
camping was a symbol of independence, a form of freedom. It rained in
one place, we folded the tent and left elsewhere. How many working-class
families or so-called middle classes were able to discover other
landscapes, to air their bodies and minds. Some sites were more than
rudimentary, especially municipal campsites, but we were happy, this
feeling that is priceless. Little by little, the demands of users
encouraged owners to develop comfort. Spaces were delimited, bungalows
occupied a major part of them. And when you look at today's sites, you
see an essential evolution on some of them, users become permanent
users, voluntarily or for lack of other solutions. Gaspard Lion, a
sociologist, took an interest in this or rather these audiences in his
book Vivre au camping, un mal-logement des classes populaires published
by Éditions du Seuil in 2024.
"Today, according to the Abbé Pierre Foundation, more than 16 million
people are victims, to varying degrees, of what we no longer dare to
call the "housing crisis" as it appears structural." Let's add that a
million people are without personal housing and 330,000 are considered
homeless. Another figure? 100,000 people live in these campsites
diverted from their traditional function of leisure and tourism by
serving as their only home. This type of accommodation is prohibited but
practical. Some owners turn a blind eye but the situation remains
uncertain and the abuses in terms of price and constraints weaken these
people who also have many social difficulties. Year-round camping is a
solution to this housing crisis. It is impossible to access individual
"permanent" property due to low income. So, we look for a space of our
own, fewer constraints, by refusing the image of collective housing. In
the 1980s, our country experienced the end of the spread of property
among the working classes. The barrier of access to credit, to rent is
one of the major causes of poor housing.
From illusion to reality
Be careful, let's not believe that this situation reflects social misery
of the occupants and Gaspard Lion underlines the differences in income
which imply different attitudes. In some campsites, the owners create
residential subdivisions by selecting the clientele who personalize
their land, their interior, a form of permanent village. No illusion,
these occupants are not owners and have no right to maintain a property,
a mobile home which deteriorates quite quickly. And then there are the
others. Those who work without earning enough to access social housing.
The accidents of life break many people. They turn to this solution but
have a hard time coping with the gaze of others. The author provides
numerous testimonies of this precariousness, with supporting photos. It
is a temporary situation that lasts and it is hard. Loss of
self-confidence, discouragement, shame and stigma, resentment towards
the rich. Psychological suffering is a reality. So, we adapt, we try to
improve this accommodation, the garden serves as an outlet. We make do
with little, deprivations are permanent. Between neighbors of the same
social conditions, exchanges of services are frequent, a popular and
informal sociability is created as in working-class neighborhoods "in
the past".
The institutional violence of absolute power
Uncertainty about the future, the discretionary power of owners, the
abuses that result from it are analyzed in the chapter devoted to
eviction. Gaspard Lion presents us in detail the eviction of residents
from a municipal campsite, the contempt in the mayor's words, the
institutional violence, the manipulation of individuals by a social
worker who earns his place as head of human resources within the
municipal services. Sordid!! An absolute power as Pierre Bourdieu
emphasized: "Absolute power is the power to make unpredictable and to
prohibit others from any reasonable anticipation, to install them in
absolute uncertainty by giving no hold to their capacity to foresee".
This is a new but essential field of struggle. "These methods of dealing
with the social question are all the more deleterious and have all the
more the effect of impoverishing and locking these people into poverty
since there is currently no legislative requirement to guarantee
effective rehousing during evictions, unlike, for example, the policies
of post-war shanty town clearance." Associations are being created to
help these people in the short term, but the challenge is that of a
global social policy and a massive construction of social housing at
very low rents accessible to all.
* Gaspard Lion
Living at the campsite
A poor housing of the working classes
Ed. du Seuil, 2024
https://monde-libertaire.fr/?articlen=8016
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
camping was a symbol of independence, a form of freedom. It rained in
one place, we folded the tent and left elsewhere. How many working-class
families or so-called middle classes were able to discover other
landscapes, to air their bodies and minds. Some sites were more than
rudimentary, especially municipal campsites, but we were happy, this
feeling that is priceless. Little by little, the demands of users
encouraged owners to develop comfort. Spaces were delimited, bungalows
occupied a major part of them. And when you look at today's sites, you
see an essential evolution on some of them, users become permanent
users, voluntarily or for lack of other solutions. Gaspard Lion, a
sociologist, took an interest in this or rather these audiences in his
book Vivre au camping, un mal-logement des classes populaires published
by Éditions du Seuil in 2024.
"Today, according to the Abbé Pierre Foundation, more than 16 million
people are victims, to varying degrees, of what we no longer dare to
call the "housing crisis" as it appears structural." Let's add that a
million people are without personal housing and 330,000 are considered
homeless. Another figure? 100,000 people live in these campsites
diverted from their traditional function of leisure and tourism by
serving as their only home. This type of accommodation is prohibited but
practical. Some owners turn a blind eye but the situation remains
uncertain and the abuses in terms of price and constraints weaken these
people who also have many social difficulties. Year-round camping is a
solution to this housing crisis. It is impossible to access individual
"permanent" property due to low income. So, we look for a space of our
own, fewer constraints, by refusing the image of collective housing. In
the 1980s, our country experienced the end of the spread of property
among the working classes. The barrier of access to credit, to rent is
one of the major causes of poor housing.
From illusion to reality
Be careful, let's not believe that this situation reflects social misery
of the occupants and Gaspard Lion underlines the differences in income
which imply different attitudes. In some campsites, the owners create
residential subdivisions by selecting the clientele who personalize
their land, their interior, a form of permanent village. No illusion,
these occupants are not owners and have no right to maintain a property,
a mobile home which deteriorates quite quickly. And then there are the
others. Those who work without earning enough to access social housing.
The accidents of life break many people. They turn to this solution but
have a hard time coping with the gaze of others. The author provides
numerous testimonies of this precariousness, with supporting photos. It
is a temporary situation that lasts and it is hard. Loss of
self-confidence, discouragement, shame and stigma, resentment towards
the rich. Psychological suffering is a reality. So, we adapt, we try to
improve this accommodation, the garden serves as an outlet. We make do
with little, deprivations are permanent. Between neighbors of the same
social conditions, exchanges of services are frequent, a popular and
informal sociability is created as in working-class neighborhoods "in
the past".
The institutional violence of absolute power
Uncertainty about the future, the discretionary power of owners, the
abuses that result from it are analyzed in the chapter devoted to
eviction. Gaspard Lion presents us in detail the eviction of residents
from a municipal campsite, the contempt in the mayor's words, the
institutional violence, the manipulation of individuals by a social
worker who earns his place as head of human resources within the
municipal services. Sordid!! An absolute power as Pierre Bourdieu
emphasized: "Absolute power is the power to make unpredictable and to
prohibit others from any reasonable anticipation, to install them in
absolute uncertainty by giving no hold to their capacity to foresee".
This is a new but essential field of struggle. "These methods of dealing
with the social question are all the more deleterious and have all the
more the effect of impoverishing and locking these people into poverty
since there is currently no legislative requirement to guarantee
effective rehousing during evictions, unlike, for example, the policies
of post-war shanty town clearance." Associations are being created to
help these people in the short term, but the challenge is that of a
global social policy and a massive construction of social housing at
very low rents accessible to all.
* Gaspard Lion
Living at the campsite
A poor housing of the working classes
Ed. du Seuil, 2024
https://monde-libertaire.fr/?articlen=8016
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten