A Narrative Political Ecology Approach to Unsheltered Homelessness and Episodic Poor Air Quality along an Urban Riparian Corridor

Abstract

Air quality concerns, like other environmental disamenities, are unevenly experienced across populations based on a variety of social and geographic markers, including those living at the urban economic and geographic margins. This study uses a narrative political ecology approach to document and analyze how people experiencing unsheltered homelessness along an urban riparian corridor in Salt Lake County, Utah, engage with seasonal episodic poor air quality. In-depth, on-site semi-structured interviews (n = 16) were conducted with individuals living in tents and other constructed shelters. Participant responses were developed into narratives focused on daily experiences with poor air quality, attributing the causes of air pollution, and locating responsibility for poor air quality. Responses demonstrate the power of participant narrative in their own analyses of lived experiences of wildfire smoke, haze, and seasonal inversion, as well as the ways these events influence broader conceptualizations about personal health, vulnerability, responsibilization, and power-infused nature-society relations.