The ethnography of (extreme) poverty: theoretical and empirical implications of the homeless study

This article aims to propose new possibilities of the anthropological study of homeless people. The secondary objective is to investigate both the empirical and theoretical levels of these possibilities. Drawing from my own fieldwork of “street people”, I suggest four possible ways to look at future research topics: (a) urban adaptation (the traditional and problematic one); (b) urban geography of reciprocity; (c) “squat” becoming a place and (d) linguistic anthropology analysis. Finally, I will discuss the relationship of theory, empirical material and the validity of ethnographic research.This article aims to propose new possibilities of the anthropological study of homeless people. The secondary objective is to investigate both the empirical and theoretical levels of these possibilities. Drawing from my own fieldwork of “street people”, I suggest four possible ways to look at future research topics: (a) urban adaptation (the traditional and problematic one); (b) urban geography of reciprocity; (c) “squat” becoming a place and (d) linguistic anthropology analysis. Finally, I will discuss the relationship of theory, empirical material and the validity of ethnographic research