In this ethnographic study, Johannes Lenhard observes the daily practices, routines and techniques of people who are sleeping rough on the streets of Paris. The book focusses on their survival practises, their short-term desires and hopes, how they earn money through begging, how they choose the best place to sleep at night and what role drugs and alcohol play in their lives. The book also follows people through different institutional settings, including a homeless day centre, a needle exchange, a centre for people with alcohol problems and a homeless shelter.

Johannes Lenhard is an ethnographer of venture capital and homelessness and currently the Centre Coordinator of the Max Planck Centre Cambridge for the Study of Ethics, the Economy and Social Change.

List of Figures
Preface: A Personal Down and Out in London and Paris
Acknowledgements

Part I: Introductions

Introduction: People Sleeping Rough at the Gare du Nord
Frame: Hoping for Home

Part II: Short-term Hopes - Surviving the Street

Chapter 1. Labour With, Off and On the Street
Chapter 2. Habiter: Making Shelter when Sleeping Rough
Chapter 3. Addiction Time: Cutting Through Time with Alcohol and Drugs

Part III: Towards the Future, Assisted

Chapter 4. Ruptures from Addiction Time: Institutional Support at Sun and EMO
Chapter 5. Between Relationships and the Projet de Vie: Social Work at Freedom
Chapter 6. Towards a Room of One's Own: Living in 'Ruly' Temporary Accommodation

Conclusion: Better Lives on the Street

References
Index