Pathways, careers and revolving doors: an exploration of the social function of metaphors in homelessness discourse and research
Date
2007
Authors
Fopp, R.J.
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Conference paper
Citation
Proceedings of the 2007 Housing Researchers' Conference, 2007
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(20 Jun 2007 : Brisbane, Queensland)
Abstract
Like sociologists who use 'class' and 'stratification', and physicists who use 'black hole', researchers who investigate homelessness and housing issues use metaphors. To name just a few, we hear of 'sliding' into homelessness, 'pathways,' revolving dorrs,' 'exit points' and homeless and housing 'careers'. 'Pathways' and 'careers' are very popular among researchers and regularly appear in national and international journals, and in the titles of funded research. Using the work of George Lakoff, this paper examines the use of such metaphors in reserch about homelessness. While valorising and acknowledging the necessity of metaphors in any learning, including reserach, the perspective is advanced that amy metaphors are part of a certain way of perceiving and explaining home lessness, the neutrality of which ought (where possible) neither to be taken for granted nor smuggled into research.
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