Feminist Empowerment or Masculine Power: A Qualitative Analysis on Transitional Housing in Metro Vancouver

Tuesday, June 4 | 10AM | In-person in the Thesis Defence Room, RM 2020, at Bennett Library

Abstract:
For women and children fleeing violence, transitional housing can provide a place of safety and security while supporting them towards independent living. Portrayed as a place of empowerment and stability the call to expand transitional housing to reduce housing insecurity for this population, continues to grow in Canada. I caution this call for expansion as this research suggests it is not a site of empowerment; rather, transitional housing is a site of neoliberal masculine domination which perpetuates the subjugation of women and their families. Specifically, this research interrogates the ways in which transitional housing (and its providers) – under the guise of feminist empowerment and autonomy – obscure state power dynamics that contribute to the continued domination of women.

Keywords: : second-stage transitional housing; welfare state; feminism; neoliberalism

Examining Committee:
Chair: Dr. Lindsey Freeman, Associate Professor, Sociology & Anthropology, SFU
Supervisor: Dr. Pamela Stern, Associate Professor, Sociology & Anthropology, SFU
Committee Member: Dr. Amanda Watson, Senior Lecturer,  Sociology & Anthropology, SFU
Examiner: Dr. Catherine Murray, Professor Emerita, Department of Gender, Sexuality, and Women's Studies, SFU