Martha Ingund Wegewitz

A Genealogy of Exclusion. Continuities in Practices of Excluding and Invisibilizing Unhoused People in Urban Spaces

Starting from a connection between houselessness, the constitution of space, and practices of exclusion and invisibilization, my dissertation project traces the historical emergence of approaches to homelessness in German cities. In this context continuities of exclusion and violence are revealed that extend into the present day. Analyzing these continuities allows for a more precise understanding of current urban and regulatory policies towards unhoused and poor people. The study focuses on legislation, regulatory policies, bureaucratic processes, and their implementation and execution in the form of state regulation, repression, and violence, as well as the resulting spatial configurations.

The study integrates three levels of analysis: A critical-historical examination of practices and regimes for dealing with homelessness based on historical material makes it possible to identify and reveal continuities. A series of mappings dealing with case studies of historical and contemporary evictions explore how these continuities manifest in space in the form of specific measures. The eviction of camps is understood as a supratemporal relevant measure that is applied throughout the entire period of research. The theoretical contextualization of the mechanisms of action is achieved by embedding the continuities and their spatial materialization in the social conditions that influence them and the associated discourses and ideologies of inequality. The dissertation project can thus contribute to understanding society’s relationship to unhoused people and how they are treated in urban spaces, and to reveal the mechanisms of exclusion from a spatial research perspective in order to formulate a critique of the existing conditions.

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Publications (Selection)

Köpper, Julia; Wegewitz, Martha; Pelger, Dagmar (2022): fem*MAP Berlin 2049: Feminist spatial systems for a non-sexist city. In: Cidades, Comunidades e Territórios, Autumn Special Issue: Action! Feminisms and the spatialization of resistances (Oct/2022), 45-65.

Köpper, Julia; Wegewitz, Martha; Pelger, Dagmar; Stollmann, Jörg (Hg.) (2021): fem*MAP BERLIN. Feminist spatial systems for a non-sexist city. CUD Work Reports No. 1. Berlin: Technische Universität Berlin.

Roberta, Burghardt; Barthel, Bettina; Coelho, Pedro; Tajeri, Niloufar; Pelger, Dagmar; Rochlitzer, Lisa; Rosenthal, Caroline; Teske, Tilmann; Wegewitz, Martha (2018): Study Gemeinwohl entwickeln: Kooperativ und Langfristig!. Berlin: Bezirksamt Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg.

Lectures (Selection)

A feminist perspective for Berlin today! What could a non-sexist city look like?. V International Congress Architecture and Gender | ACTION. Feminisms and the spatialization of resistances. 04/2021. with Julia Köpper and Dagmar Pelger.

Die Arbeits- und Koordinierungsstruktur für gemeinwohlorientierte Stadtentwicklung. Raumkonferenz zur Zukunft unserer Städte. Dresden. 06/2019.

Moderation of one Hands-on Workshop Das Haus der Kulturen der Welt – in der Welt. Conference of the SFB 1265 Re-Figuration of Space: Mapping as a Joint Spatial Display. HKW Berlin. 11/2018. with Séverine Marguin and Dagmar Pelger

Mapping Spatial Commons: An investigative Method for understanding the preconditions for collectively coordinated spatial (re-)production. Symposium Urban Studies in Education and Research. TU Dresden. 10/2018. with Paul Klever and Steffen Klotz