Making up the City “from below”: Community Care Practices, Gender and Vulnerability in Southern European Context

The paper explores, through case studies in medium and small sized cities, alternatives in the welfare provision and care for homeless and vulnerable groups, such as women who have experienced domestic violence or poverty. Focusing in the transition from public intervention to the involvement of civil society the study draws on the Greek experience and the Southern European cities which mostly effected by the economic crisis with extreme recession conditions and lack of welfare policies. The recent reforms in migration policy regarding refugee reception and the decentralisation of accommodation policies led to a new form of local governance where municipalities developed new regulatory powers. Moreover, community-based alternatives were development to address social problems. Practices of community care, such as organised community approaches to poverty, mental health and homelessness and informal and spontaneous acts of solidarity gave rise to different paths and forms of social care and community innovation. In methodological terms, the article considers three case studies, to identify the different institutional and policy responses to homelessness and vulnerable groups, giving rise to different paths and forms of social care and community innovation. The empirical material is based on ethnographic fieldwork, interviews with welfare authorities, community-voluntary organizations and homeless people. The research not only points to constrains and barriers for anti-poverty and social care like bureaucratic rigidity, lack of control, and strong clientelistic networks but also looks for possible new forms of civic participation in local welfare and sustainable alternatives to social care in cities.