Paper short abstract:

In this paper, I would like to explore differential and more nuanced notions of liminality to help understand spaces of homelessness as well as the diverse experiences of people facing homelessness.

Paper long abstract:

Liminality has been described by scholars, as a time of marginality and invisibility (Turner 1987) or as periods of chaos, confusion, uncertainty, anxiety and searching for meaning (Bridges 2009). Others have highlighted that liminality entails ambiguity, disruption, and displacement, as well as possibilities (Arvanitis et al. 2019). In this paper, I would like to explore differential and more nuanced notions of liminality to help understand spaces of homelessness as well as the diverse experiences of people facing homelessness. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork, this exploratory study is part of a joint comparative research project (CSRP) on homelessness and social inclusion in Croatia. Rather than being seen as a period of ‘between states’; of existing ‘betwixt and between’ findings show that experiences of homelessness are often understood and felt as a state of being stuck or trapped (Smith & Dowse 2019), unable to move or transition (Thomassen 2009). If transition does take place, this often involves moves from one precarious housing situation to another in the absence of sustainable support. For this reason, the fluid and dynamic nature of liminality often characterised by ongoing, cyclical shifts between different (homeless) environments (i.e., into shelters, onto streets into inadequate/insecure housing) is also considered.