Overview
Harriet began her ESRC (1+3) funded PhD, Homeless Women and their ‘transgressive’ bodies, in 2019 under the supervision of Professor Paul Cloke and Professor Jo Little. Her research seeks to work with homeless women and homeless service providers to explore the ways in which homeless women’s bodies are perceived and treated by wider society, the homeless community and homeless women themselves.
Harriet completed the MRes in Critical Human Geographies at Exeter University in 2019, enabling her to engage in other areas of geography, particularly cultural geography. Part of this involved the production of a Little Miss Homeless book, which sought to engage wider audiences in the issues homeless women face. During the MRes, Harriet completed a 15,000-word dissertation titled: Passports, Pills and Purple Jumpers: The Materialities of Homelessness. This research approached homelessness through the lens and methodology of material culture, seeking to explore the types of things homeless people have, why they have them and how they manage them. Harriet worked with a local homeless service provider and service users and produced a report to share the findings. The dissertation was awarded a distinction grade and the research is currently being disseminated and utilised by local homeless services.
Prior to joining the University of Exeter, Harriet completed a PGCE in Secondary Geography and a BA in Geography from the University of Plymouth. Her dissertation Do Homeless People Have a Place in Bath? Place, Belonging and Exclusion in cities, focused on the ways in which homeless communities in Bath try and negotiate hostile urban space through making and remaking a sense of place. It also explored the “in-placeness” of homeless people in homeless spaces, focusing on those whose gender identity, ethnicity or nationality still rendered them ‘Other’ in homeless spaces. Her dissertation was awarded a first and nominated for the RGS SCGRG Dissertation Prize.
Harriet currently holds a position on the ethics committee as a PGR representative and is the PGR Representative for Human Geography.
Broad research specialisms:
In addition to homelessness research, I am interested in research surrounding the body, feminist geographies, issues of social injustice as well as creative methods for data collection and research dissemination.
Qualifications
MRes in Critical Human Geographies, Distinction – University of Exeter
PGCE Secondary Geography – University of Plymouth
BA Geography, First Class (Hons)- University of Plymouth
Publications
Key publications | Publications by category | Publications by year
Publications by category
Books
CHGRG ->, Sugg B, DeSilvey C, Cartwright C, Asker C, Freeman C, Curtis D, Harvey D, Ryfield F, Lucas G, et al (2020).
Academic Life in Lockdown Activity Book. San Francisco, Blurb.
Abstract:
Academic Life in Lockdown Activity Book
Abstract.
Journal articles
Earle‐Brown H (2022). Homeless women Don't wear Prada: the geographies of beauty standards and the bodies of homeless women.
Geography Compass,
16(5).
Abstract:
Homeless women don't wear Prada: the geographies of beauty standards and the bodies of homeless women
AbstractMainstream society expects women to look and behave in particular ways. Women are expected to adhere to conventional Western beauty standards of grooming, fashionable clothing, and hygiene. They are also traditionally associated with the home, homemaking and being indoors. The bodies of homeless women transgress in both ways: through lacking the resources to engage in the body work which would allow them to adhere to the beauty standards; and through lacking a home and predominantly being outdoors. This in turn, results in particular stigmatization for homeless women, who have unique experiences of homelessness. A lack of gendered literature has left many of these experiences underdiscussed, and even those approaches which do focus on gender, rarely account for other social differences such as race, age, and sexuality. This paper extends existing debates by arguing that framing homelessness through beauty standards and embodiment enables a new and more nuanced understanding of homelessness, which is not only gendered, but also allows for the acknowledgement of other intersectional difference, such as race, age, sexuality, and disability. It concludes that future research into homelessness should not only account for gender but should take an intersectional approach to consider the ways that homelessness is not one universal experience.
Abstract.
Earle-Brown H (2021). Little Miss Homeless: creative methods for research impact.
Cultural Geographies,
28(2), 409-415.
Abstract:
Little Miss Homeless: creative methods for research impact
Women’s homelessness is a significant and increasing problem in the UK. Yet, much research on homelessness does not acknowledge the particular gendered issues homeless women face. Furthermore, the small amount of research available on the matter is often restricted to academic and professional audiences. Little Miss Homeless, a culture jammed children’s book, was produced with the intention of making wider public audiences aware and engaged with issues relating to women’s homelessness. This article traces through the process of producing the book and reflects on the emerging interest within cultural geography to use creative methods of research dissemination in order to engage wider public audiences with our research.
Abstract.
Earle-Brown H (2020). Painting the Nails of Homeless Women: Using Manicures as a Methodological Tool.
Collaboration,
6(1), 14-19.
Abstract:
Painting the Nails of Homeless Women: Using Manicures as a Methodological Tool
This article introduces the method I am planning on using for my PhD research: rethinking the traditional semi-structured interview by offering manicures to homeless women during conversation. There are several aims to this approach including creating a more comfortable research environment; open up unexpected conversations relating to the manicure; allow the participants to have autonomy over their body through choosing, designing or refusing their manicure; and thanking the homeless women for their participation. At face value, a manicure might seem like a strange, if not trivial thing to bring into a research environment. However, as this article will argue, offering manicures to homeless women has the potential to not only benefit the participants themselves, but to enrich the research process itself and the findings which consequentially emerge. This article argues that this approach aligns with both creative geographical approaches to research (which allows the research to go in unexpected directions, often yielding interesting results) and feminist approaches to research (which emphasise participant wellbeing, empowerment and an alleviation of power relations). Together, this approach can contribute to more flexible and more ethical research, which is useful when researching with vulnerable groups such as those experiencing homelessness.
Abstract.
Earle-Brown H (2019). Ethics: What about the researcher?. The Open Review, 5, 28-31.
Publications by year
2022
Earle‐Brown H (2022). Homeless women Don't wear Prada: the geographies of beauty standards and the bodies of homeless women.
Geography Compass,
16(5).
Abstract:
Homeless women don't wear Prada: the geographies of beauty standards and the bodies of homeless women
AbstractMainstream society expects women to look and behave in particular ways. Women are expected to adhere to conventional Western beauty standards of grooming, fashionable clothing, and hygiene. They are also traditionally associated with the home, homemaking and being indoors. The bodies of homeless women transgress in both ways: through lacking the resources to engage in the body work which would allow them to adhere to the beauty standards; and through lacking a home and predominantly being outdoors. This in turn, results in particular stigmatization for homeless women, who have unique experiences of homelessness. A lack of gendered literature has left many of these experiences underdiscussed, and even those approaches which do focus on gender, rarely account for other social differences such as race, age, and sexuality. This paper extends existing debates by arguing that framing homelessness through beauty standards and embodiment enables a new and more nuanced understanding of homelessness, which is not only gendered, but also allows for the acknowledgement of other intersectional difference, such as race, age, sexuality, and disability. It concludes that future research into homelessness should not only account for gender but should take an intersectional approach to consider the ways that homelessness is not one universal experience.
Abstract.
2021
Earle-Brown H (2021). Little Miss Homeless: creative methods for research impact.
Cultural Geographies,
28(2), 409-415.
Abstract:
Little Miss Homeless: creative methods for research impact
Women’s homelessness is a significant and increasing problem in the UK. Yet, much research on homelessness does not acknowledge the particular gendered issues homeless women face. Furthermore, the small amount of research available on the matter is often restricted to academic and professional audiences. Little Miss Homeless, a culture jammed children’s book, was produced with the intention of making wider public audiences aware and engaged with issues relating to women’s homelessness. This article traces through the process of producing the book and reflects on the emerging interest within cultural geography to use creative methods of research dissemination in order to engage wider public audiences with our research.
Abstract.
2020
CHGRG ->, Sugg B, DeSilvey C, Cartwright C, Asker C, Freeman C, Curtis D, Harvey D, Ryfield F, Lucas G, et al (2020).
Academic Life in Lockdown Activity Book. San Francisco, Blurb.
Abstract:
Academic Life in Lockdown Activity Book
Abstract.
Earle-Brown H (2020). Painting the Nails of Homeless Women: Using Manicures as a Methodological Tool.
Collaboration,
6(1), 14-19.
Abstract:
Painting the Nails of Homeless Women: Using Manicures as a Methodological Tool
This article introduces the method I am planning on using for my PhD research: rethinking the traditional semi-structured interview by offering manicures to homeless women during conversation. There are several aims to this approach including creating a more comfortable research environment; open up unexpected conversations relating to the manicure; allow the participants to have autonomy over their body through choosing, designing or refusing their manicure; and thanking the homeless women for their participation. At face value, a manicure might seem like a strange, if not trivial thing to bring into a research environment. However, as this article will argue, offering manicures to homeless women has the potential to not only benefit the participants themselves, but to enrich the research process itself and the findings which consequentially emerge. This article argues that this approach aligns with both creative geographical approaches to research (which allows the research to go in unexpected directions, often yielding interesting results) and feminist approaches to research (which emphasise participant wellbeing, empowerment and an alleviation of power relations). Together, this approach can contribute to more flexible and more ethical research, which is useful when researching with vulnerable groups such as those experiencing homelessness.
Abstract.
2019
Earle-Brown H (2019). Ethics: What about the researcher?. The Open Review, 5, 28-31.
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