An ambiguous hierarchy of inequalities. The political intersectionality of older women's homelessness in Poland

This paper presents the most important findings from a research project on women's homelessness in Poland, demonstrating that most Polish studies on homelessness fail to acknowledge its gender dimension, which remains unproblematized and unseen in the wider context of women's position in society. Up until now feminist theorizing, and intersectionality in particular, has not been present in research on homelessness in Poland. The article adopts the concept of 'political intersectionality' that demonstrates how policies fail to acknowledge these overlapping categories of exclusion. Further, it reconstructs conceptualizations of women's homelessness as presented by policymakers, service providers, and women's activists, showing that politics does not recognize the overlap between women's situation and homelessness due to divergent policies and financing streams. Finally, the paper analyzes narratives of older women, collected in the years 2017-2018 in homeless shelters. The article shows how the needs of old women experiencing domestic violence are not met by the system, which does not recognize the intersection of age and experiences of violence. This indicates how an ambiguous hierarchy of inequalities is construed: age determines which specific problems are deemed most important in one's situation and - consequently - what kind of support one can be granted.