Storied Realities: A Case Study of Homelessness, Housing Policy, and Gender in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory

• Main Author: Nelson, Alexandra E
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Published: Scholarship@Western 2018
• Subjects: Women’s Homelessness; Public Policy; Gender; Northern Canada; Lived Experience; Narrative; Social and Cultural Anthropology; Canada; Yukon; Whitehorse
• Online Access: https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/5653; https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/context/etd/article/7702/viewcontent/auto_convert.pdf

Homelessness, as an inherently gendered phenomenon, places women who experience it in a doubly marginal position: not only are people experiencing homelessness often rendered “silent”, but the form women’s homelessness takes is often “hidden”. This thesis explores the intersecting topics of homelessness, housing policy, and gender in Whitehorse, Yukon, highlighting the role of lived experience, narrative, and sharing stories in creating more effective and inclusive public policy. Through both critical feminist analysis and dialogic storytelling, this thesis considers the potential utility of narrative and ethnographic method in creating policy, the visibility of women who experience homelessness in broader political and social discourse, and “Canada’s North” as a setting for innovative approaches to policymaking. Through interviews with people involved in the policymaking process in Whitehorse and participant observation in various service provision settings, this thesis calls for more meaningful engagement and collaboration in policy creation with women who experience homelessness.