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Power, Discursive Space and Institutional Practices in the Construction of Housing Problems

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-16, 14:08 authored by Keith JacobsKeith Jacobs, Kemeny, J, Manzi, T
A constructionist approach to the study of social problems and housing policy provides a theoretically informed means of analysing the ways in which housing policy is formulated and implemented. Yet despite a strong commitment by housing researchers to policy relevance, constructionist studies of how specific social problems are generated and deployed have so far made only a limited impact on housing research. The paper addresses this lacuna by first discussing important literature and the key conceptual issues in this field of study. This is followed by a discussion of two examples from recent UK housing policy (the shift in the 1980s from defining lone mothers as the victims of housing shortages to a morally questionable group subverting needs-based allocation policies and the re-emergence of anti-social behaviour as a problem on housing estates). The paper's conclusion is that the 'construction of problems' provides a rich source of new material as well as offering significant opportunities to develop a more critically informed housing research agenda.

History

Publication title

Housing Studies

Volume

18

Issue

4

Pagination

429-446

ISSN

0267-3037

Department/School

School of Social Sciences

Publisher

Carfax Publishing

Place of publication

Abingdon, UK

Repository Status

  • Restricted

Socio-economic Objectives

Pacific Peoples community services not elsewhere classified

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