Covid-19 Lockdown Responses among Socially Marginalized Citizens: Social Distancing in Networks of Accelerated Intimacy

The research project sheds light on how socially disadvantaged citizens handle life during the closure as a result of covid-19. Many offers for the homeless and other of the most vulnerable citizens fall under the 'critical functions' that are maintained even during the closure, but with restrictions in relation to opening hours, target group, and forms of social contact. However, these formal offers constitute only one - albeit crucial - way in which these citizens manage. The project works on the assumption that the social networks that exist in communities among the socially disadvantaged also constitute a crucial resource in relation to people's ability to maintain life on the edge of the welfare system. These communities are also described as 'risk communities' that keep people in abuse or continued vulnerability. However, it is also here that access to a meal, an accommodation option, security, or affiliation can be provided in the absence of formal support options. But how does life cope with current initiatives aimed at social distancing and reduced social contact? On the basis of ethnographic fieldwork, the research project sheds light on the consequences of social distancing for citizens for whom social contact can be crucial in terms of coping.