Compassionate revanchism, homelessness, and the divided local state: the case of Spokane, WA

This study deepens our understanding of compassionate revanchism in the spatial management of homelessness in a relatively understudied, midsize city: Spokane, WA. Spokane has observed consistently increasing levels of homelessness in recent years and has been vastly understudied as a site of homelessness compared to larger American cities. This study investigates the internal workings of the City of Spokane in its efforts to solve its worsening homelessness crisis and presents a critical discourse analysis of compassionate revanchism in the process. Spokane's homelessness practices mirror the contradictory trend of persistent revanchist approaches coupled with increased funding to systems of care experienced in other cities. But a deeper analysis reveals a sharp internal conflict within the local state in Spokane, especially between the Mayor's Office, the City Council and other local state agencies. This conflict reflects a stark divide within the homelessness discourse regarding its primary causes and applicable solutions and demonstrates that local governments are not the singular actors that are frequently portrayed in the literature. In the process, compassionate revanchism is revealed to be indicative of a more complicated internal division within local government (between starkly opposing narratives regarding homelessness) as much as it is a singular ambivalent policy approach.