‘It’s not a nice place’
A research paper which included interviews with young people from Knocknaheeny has explored the impact of austerity on disadvantaged youths.
Writing in the journal 'Social and Cultural Geography', Dr Sander van Lanen outlines the work he undertook for his PhD at UCC in which he builds upon interviews with young people from Knocknaheeny and Ballymun in Dublin and focuses on a group eager but unable to leave their parental home.
The paper looks at how the fallout of Ireland’s post-crash austerity era has diminished opportunities for under-privileged young people to make homes of their own, leading to feelings of disappointment and exclusion.
In total 33 individuals aged 18-25, which were predominantly recruited through youth organisations in Knocknaheeny and Ballymun, shared their experiences during 31 interviews conducted in 2015.
The paper outlines how home-unmaking is a legacy of the 2008 financial crash, as austerity impacted on domestic life and expectations and housing and home are critical spheres through which austerity and recession become embedded in the everyday lives of disadvantaged urban youth.
The paper aims to illuminate how crisis and austerity linger on in the everyday lives of disadvantaged urban youth through the home, building on qualitative research with youth from two of Ireland’s most deprived urban areas like Knocknaheeny and Ballymun.
Dr van Lanen said: “Home-unmaking is one of austerity’s ongoing injustices. Home-unmaking is lingering rather than sudden, and protracted austerity slowly diminishes the opportunities for under-privileged people to make home and be included within the post-crisis city.
“These experiences of disadvantaged urban youth, importantly, portray home as more than housing. When confronting the housing crisis in Ireland or elsewhere, it is vital to not merely provide housing but extend the capabilities of individuals to build and sustain a home,” he added.
Dr van Lanen completed his PhD on this work at UCC in 2017, and is now a lecturer in human geography and planning at the University of Groningen. The names of the interviewees were changed to protect their identities.