Becoming Somebody Else Blackouts, Addiction, and Agency amongst London’s Homeless
10 / 10 1 rating
Free- Language
- English
- Published
- 2025
- Publisher
- HAU Books
- Pages
- 328
- ISBN
- 9781914363290
Joshua Burraway's Becoming Somebody Else explores the profound implications of drug-induced blackouts among London's homeless population. This book delves into what it means to exist outside conventional notions of time and self, offering a window into the fragmented lives of individuals grappling with addiction in post-austerity Britain. It examines the blackout as a state where memory, body, agency, and identity collapse into a void, revealing how selfhood is constructed and deconstructed amidst social suffering and personal trauma.
Drawing on extensive ethnographic research and individual narratives, Burraway employs structural, psychological, and phenomenological approaches to understand how memory, agency, and identity become sites of both struggle and belonging. Becoming Somebody Else challenges existing perspectives on addiction and homelessness, proposing new avenues for understanding and therapeutic engagement. This work presents a critical examination of human experience at the margins, compelling readers to reconsider the complexities of identity and resilience.
Drawing on extensive ethnographic research and individual narratives, Burraway employs structural, psychological, and phenomenological approaches to understand how memory, agency, and identity become sites of both struggle and belonging. Becoming Somebody Else challenges existing perspectives on addiction and homelessness, proposing new avenues for understanding and therapeutic engagement. This work presents a critical examination of human experience at the margins, compelling readers to reconsider the complexities of identity and resilience.
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Other editions (1)
Listen to the summary Narrated summary
To exist outside the normative rhythms of housed life, to drift on the periphery of London's bustling streets, is to inhabit a fragmented landscape where time itself warps and bends. Here, amidst the harsh realities of post-austerity Britain, a community of individuals navigates the profound dislocations of homelessness and addiction, often seeking refuge in the bewildering embrace of the drug-induced blackout. This state, a memoryless abyss where self and agency seem to dissolve, becomes a peculiar, often harrowing, means of coping with immense social suffering and personal trauma.
Step into the lives of those who dwell in the city's forgotten corners, their stories woven together with poignant detail. You witness their struggles, the constant negotiation of survival, and the profound impact of a society that often chooses to look away. Yet, within this overlooked existence, a striking humanity emerges, a resilience born of shared hardship and an undeniable spirit that persists even in the face of relentless adversity.
The blackout itself is not merely a physiological event; it transforms into a radical, daily ritual. It is a journey into an "other self," a temporary escape from the relentless present and the crushing weight of identity. In these moments, the self is unmade, not just outside of conventional time, but often outside of memory, offering a paradoxical freedom from the very conditions that define their waking lives. This elusive selfhood, glimpsed through the haze of a forgotten night, reveals a complex interplay between agency and surrender.
Listen to the words, the histories, and the quiet reflections of these individuals. Their narratives unveil how memory, agency, and the very sense of self become battlegrounds, sites of both profound struggle and unexpected belonging. Beyond the clinical understanding of addiction, a different truth unfolds – one that acknowledges the structural forces that tear lives apart, while simultaneously celebrating the unique individualities that endure.
Among them, you might discover an unexpected artistic genius, their creations offering a vivid counterpoint to the desolation, a testament to the undimmed capacity for expression. Their art, often ephemeral or lost to the harshness of the streets, speaks volumes about the inner lives that thrive despite outward circumstances.
This journey into the depths of London's homeless experience forces a confrontation with deeply ingrained perceptions. It challenges the easy dismissals and the simplistic narratives, urging you to consider how human beings construct and deconstruct their identities in the wake of profound social and existential crises. The pursuit of "somebody else" through the blackout becomes a poignant, if desperate, strategy for navigating a world that has, in many ways, already rendered them invisible.
Step into the lives of those who dwell in the city's forgotten corners, their stories woven together with poignant detail. You witness their struggles, the constant negotiation of survival, and the profound impact of a society that often chooses to look away. Yet, within this overlooked existence, a striking humanity emerges, a resilience born of shared hardship and an undeniable spirit that persists even in the face of relentless adversity.
The blackout itself is not merely a physiological event; it transforms into a radical, daily ritual. It is a journey into an "other self," a temporary escape from the relentless present and the crushing weight of identity. In these moments, the self is unmade, not just outside of conventional time, but often outside of memory, offering a paradoxical freedom from the very conditions that define their waking lives. This elusive selfhood, glimpsed through the haze of a forgotten night, reveals a complex interplay between agency and surrender.
Listen to the words, the histories, and the quiet reflections of these individuals. Their narratives unveil how memory, agency, and the very sense of self become battlegrounds, sites of both profound struggle and unexpected belonging. Beyond the clinical understanding of addiction, a different truth unfolds – one that acknowledges the structural forces that tear lives apart, while simultaneously celebrating the unique individualities that endure.
Among them, you might discover an unexpected artistic genius, their creations offering a vivid counterpoint to the desolation, a testament to the undimmed capacity for expression. Their art, often ephemeral or lost to the harshness of the streets, speaks volumes about the inner lives that thrive despite outward circumstances.
This journey into the depths of London's homeless experience forces a confrontation with deeply ingrained perceptions. It challenges the easy dismissals and the simplistic narratives, urging you to consider how human beings construct and deconstruct their identities in the wake of profound social and existential crises. The pursuit of "somebody else" through the blackout becomes a poignant, if desperate, strategy for navigating a world that has, in many ways, already rendered them invisible.
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