Planner's Bookshelf, a review of Indigenous Homelessness
Indigenous Homelessness is a volume of research from Canada, Australia and New Zealand, edited by Canadian scholars Evelyn Peters (Department of Urban and Inner City Studies at the University of Winnipeg) and Julia Christensen (Geography and Planning Studies at Roskilde University, Denmark). The book brings together the work of thirty-six contributors from a diversity of professional and personal experiences. Approximately one-third of the authors self-identify as Indigenous, and their Indigenous worldview is shared through stories and first-person interviews, which adds a richness and lived experience to the research.
[...] a common thread is that Indigenous and homeless peoples are not passive recipients of welfare; rather, they know about the solutions. All have agency and voice – they are resilient and adaptive. Indigenous Homelessness was written with a view to reciprocity and several contributors emphasize research as a process which can ‘give back’. I particularly appreciated when an author’s approach focused on building relationships with Indigenous homeless peoples.
All research can have meaningful impacts: by, for, and with Indigenous communities. Indigenous Homelessness amasses a body of knowledge on homelessness as experienced by Indigenous peoples in three nations with similar colonial histories. Each contribution represents a journey in gathering Indigenous knowledge, requiring a trusting relationship between the researcher and those being ‘researched’. The editors state their intention to inform scholars, policy makers and the larger public about the need for a decolonization of discourse and policy. To this end, Indigenous Homelessness contributes new methodologies and findings. As readers consider the knowledge gained from Indigenous Homelessness, I urge planners and policy makers to consider ways in which their planning practice can reciprocally contribute towards alleviating Indigenous homelessness.
Read the full publication here.
PLAN Canada Summer 2017.