State Led Vulnerability and the Subtle Process of Constructing the Local Clandestine - Irina Zamfirescu

With ten children in their household, a family from Bucharest could not remember how many times they were evicted. Dorina and Ioan kept on hiding and moving because of fear of having their kids taken by the social care department. They feared the public institution that was meant to give support to people in their situation. They also had to navigate the constant pressure from Local Police which would fine them for their informal work or their living in abandoned homes. What are the challenges imposed by the politics of the daily life of the urban poor? Who are the actors that trigger and that implement the policing practices within Bucharest? What are the effects of implementing formal and informal policing practices on the urban poor? During my ethnographic endeavor, I observed several dynamics at play within the formal and informal practices of policing the urban poor. The end result seems to be what I would call the local clandestine, the urban poor who fear that their mere existence in the public space might be sanctionable and who finds safety in being unnoticed.Article by Irina Zamfirescu, illustrated by Rucsandra Enache, read by Nicoleta Finariu Andreihttps://theanthro.art/state-led-vulnerability-and-the-subtle-process-of-constructing-the-local-clandestine-irina-zamfirescu/