A Note on Capitalist Commodification of the Homeless

Abstract

Under capitalism, the homeless are an oppressed and an exploited class. They are exploited sometimes as part of what Marx identifies as the lower reaches of the surplus labor force, but most usually through their commodification. They are subject to Althusser’s repressive and ideological state apparatuses. The long-term and recurrent homeless are commodified by being a source of both money-making employment and power among the police, the legal system, and psychiatrists and social workers. JEL Classifications: B51, J68, O18