The Right to Home

This book explores how the design characteristics of homes can support or suppress individuals' attempts to create meaning in their lives, which in turn, impacts well-being and delineates the production of health, income, and educational disparities within homes and communities. According to the author, the physical realities of living spacesuch as how kitchen layouts restrict cooking and the size of social areas limits gatherings with friends, or how dining tables can shape aspirationshave a salient connection to the beliefs, culture, and happiness of the individuals in the space. The book's purpose is to examine the human capacity to create meaning and to rally home mediators (scholars, educators, design practitioners, policy makes, and advocates) to work toward Culturally Enriched Communities in which everyone can thrive. The volume includes stories from Hmong, Somali, Mexican, Ojibwe, and African American individuals living in Minnesota to show how space intersects withrace, gender, citizenship, ability, religion, and ethnicity, positing that social inequalities are partially spatially constructed and are, therefore, malleable.

Explores the relationship between living space and social inequalities Includes stories from varied perspectives for a holistic analysis Presents an argument for action toward Culturally Enriched Communities

Autorentext
Tasoulla Hadjiyanni, PhD, is Professor of Interior Design at the University of Minnesota. Her book The Making of a Refugee Children Adopting Refugee Identity in Cyprus (Praeger, 2002) centered her scholarship on design as a medium for creating Culturally Enriched Communities, healthy and connected communities in which everyone can thrive.

Inhalt
Preface.- Chapter 1: Introduction Oikophilia.- Chapter 2: The "and".- Chapter 3: Hmong Stories - "Only in the house do your dead ancestors live".- Chapter 4: Somali Stories - "I hope God will not isolate me from my community".- Chapter 5: Mexican Stories - "I can talk to her and she listens".- Chapter 6: Ojibwe Stories - "When the traditions are lost, it is like a person who has no identity".- Chapter 7: African American Stories - "To be self-sufficient and responsible in society".- Chapter 8: Moving Forward.- Appendix 1.- Index.