Critiquing hegemony and fostering alternative ways of thinking about homelessness: The articulation of the homeless subject position in the Greek street paper shedia
Abstract
The article deploys discourse theory to study the construction of the homeless subject position in the Greek street paper shedia. After a brief outline of the relevant parts of Laclau and Mouffe's (1985) discourse theory, the article first reports on the theoretical work that outlines the elements that construct the homeless subject position, keeping in mind the existence of a hegemonic version of this homeless subject position, which is driven by stigma and othering.
While mainstream media often replicate this problematic representation, street papers offer counter-hegemonic (and more respectful) articulations of the homeless subject position. Through the analysis of shedia's coverage, three nodal points of the hegemonic discourse on the homeless were identified: the absence of the home as stigma, the lack of agency and the political identity of the denizen.
The counter-hegemonic discourse, that can also be found in shedia, comprises three nodal points that are the inverse of those of the hegemonic discourse: the alternative home, the attribution of agency and the political identity of the citizen. Arguably, this case study is relevant because it shows the mirror-image-logics of hegemonic and counter-hegemonic representations, and the significance of using high theory to further our understanding of social practices.