2.3 Peter Marin “Helping and Hating the Homeless”

Reading Summary

The writer Peter Marin argues that the homeless are considered the other in the United States because they don’t fit into the norms of order and hygiene of bourgeoisie (middle class) society. See, for example, Marin’s description of his anxiety when walking through the park and seeing the homeless (p. 172 para. 24.) He argues that the homeless trigger a “Family of bourgeois fears,” which include anxiety over control, order, and cleanliness (para. 25.) Marin suggests that the homeless were created with the rise of bourgeois culture at the end of feudalism in Europe (see para. 26.) The increase of commerce and cities and capitalism led to the creation of a middle-class society with an implicit set of rules and norms or order, control and cleanliness (see para. 27-9.) Marin gives an example of the sense of disgust that the middle class has when they view the homeless when he refers to an essay by a student who describes visiting a homeless mission (para. 31). He sums up his argument by saying that we view the homeless as refuse or shit that needs to be eliminated by the society (para. 32.)
Pay careful attention to Marin’s discussion on pages 173-176 on the rise of bourgeoisie culture and the exclusion or othering of the poor and homeless. His concept of the other is based on the work of the influential cultural theorist Michael Foucault.

Discussion Prompt

Read the attached .pdf and respond to the following question:

According to Marin, which Project #2 theme best reflects Marin’s argument about why the homeless negatively stereotyped and seen as the other?
Instructions

Instructions
Respond to the question as directly as possible in your first sentence, and refer to one of the project themes:

Cultures and communities create “the Other” to feel superior
Cultures and communities create “the other” to more strongly define their identity.
Cultures and communities create “the other” to project the societies’ problems and negative characteristics onto another group.

Cultures and communities create the other because they fear groups who don’t conform to the social norms.
In the body of your response, support your answer by referring to a specific passage from the reading in your own words.

Refer to the page and paragraph numbers in parentheses