May 21
A Necessary Choice? Housing Crisis and Van Dwelling in Cornwall, UK with Dr Karen Scott, University of Exeter
A Necessary Choice? Housing Crisis and Van Dwelling in Cornwall, UK with Dr. Karen Scott, University of Exeter
In the last few years there has been a sharp increase in van dwelling in the UK. This led to a local planning crisis in a small sea-side town in Cornwall, UK in summer 2022. I followed this particular case and continue to conduct research with resident and transient van dwellers and users. Due to the cumulative and interrelated factors of austerity policies, Brexit, Covid 19, climate, cost of living and housing crises, most people are living in vehicles partly or wholly out of ‘necessity’, meaning that ‘standard’ ways of living are not materially, ethically or affectively possible for them anymore. This does not match how van dwelling is evaluated in relation to institutional duties of care where ‘necessity’ is a differently understood term. Many van dwellers are actively seeking to live more sustainably yet testimonial and hermeneutical injustice due to negative stereotyping and outdated development norms hinder democratic possibilities for re-imagining and actualizing sustainable living.
Wednesday, May 21, 2025, 4:30-6:00 pm, Anderson 121
Brought to you by the Political Science & International Relations Department