A Case Study of Camp Resolution: Sanctioned Encampments and Place-making in the Era of Criminalization

• In Event: 40821 - Community and Urban Sociology Section Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 21. Urban Governance II: Self-Governance and Community-Led Strategies

Abstract

This paper presents a 12-month ethnographic case study of Camp Resolution, a self-governed, sanctioned homeless encampment in Northern California. Prior to its closure in August 2024, it was recognized by local advocates and politicians as a potential “national model” for addressing homelessness and the affordable housing crisis on the West Coast. Operating for 18 months on a quarter-acre public lot, the encampment provided refuge for around 60 residents, primarily women and individuals with disabilities.

What distinguished Camp Resolution was its unique self-governance structure—residents maintained a council that established rules and procedures for maintenance and security—and its robust community support network of service providers and mutual aid groups. Despite their marginalized status, camp leaders successfully advocated for municipal resources, securing formal arrangements with the City of Sacramento for trash collection, bathroom services, food delivery, and temporary trailer shelters. Most notably, they established an unprecedented formal lease agreement with the City in early 2023, a legal arrangement unparalleled in other jurisdictions.

The findings from this case study offer significant implications for sociological understandings of place-making, revealing how collaboration between city officials and camp residents transformed an unused lot into a vibrant communal space for activism and community-building, complete with regular cultural events and public forums on homelessness. However, the encampment's ultimate demise illuminates the inherent challenges and limitations of the sanctioned encampment model within the current social and political landscape. The deteriorating relationship between residents, advocates and city officials highlighted statewide and national efforts to segregate homelessness to less visible urban spaces, if not to criminalize it altogether. Notably, the encampment was closed within 60 days of the June 2024 Grants Pass v. Johnson Supreme Court ruling, which changed precedents limiting encampment sweeps by local authorities.

Author

• Arturo Baiocchi, California State University-Sacramento