Crossing the Line

Svetlana Stephenson is a Professor of Sociology in the School of Social Sciences at the London Metropolitan University, UK.

• Contents: Introduction. The Homeless Experience in Russia Today: Homeless people and urban social space; Street society; The process of homelessness. Pathways Into Homelessness: Homelessness in the Soviet Union; Soviet outcasts: displacement, expulsion and self-expulsion; Homelessness in post-Soviet Russia; Displacement and paths into homelessness; Homelessness and regulation of social space. Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

’This is an important, highly readable book. Its author is undoubtedly the expert on post-Soviet homelessness in the West and this book is the project of extensive fieldwork and serious theoretical engagement with the subject matter. It is a genuine, and much awaited, contribution to the field.’ Hilary Pilkington, University of Warwick, UK 'Dr Stephenson's new book is that rare phenomenon: a serious work of sociological scholarship which, once opened is practically impossible to put down. Through her intensive research and field work since 1993, she enables her readers to enter the lives of the bomzhi, the street people of Moscow. She provides a rigorously scientific yet compassionate understanding of how and why they have fallen outside the limits of society... This is an important book and should be read by anyone with an interest in Russia, or the problems of homelessness.' Journal of Europe-Asia Studies ’This groundbreaking study of homelessness in Moscow, based on extensive qualitative research amongst homeless people and detailed analysis of state-led responses to homelessness, explores processes of socio-spatial marginalisation which lead to the categorisation of homeless people as social waste, viewed as barely human. The detailed insight and wider vision of this book will fascinate policy-makers, practitioners and scholars.’ Rebecca Kay, University of Glasgow, UK ’...an authoritative and original account of a section of Russian society which is little understood even by Russians themselves. It will be of interest to anyone interested in Russian society or indeed in homelessness as a universal phenomenon...all in all, this is a fascinating, well-written and intellectually stimulating book which deserves to be widely read.’ The Russian Review '...Svetlana Stephenson's book is a major contribution to this field. The book advances our understanding of homelessness and marginalization in Russia . This is especially important as homele