The social forces and politics of housing research: reflections from within the academy

In this paper we draw upon our experiences of the UK and Australian policy environments to make a series of tentative observations about the current state of housing research. We explore the political constraints that confront academic researchers by reflecting on how the changes within academia, styles of policymaking and nature of public engagement/publication affect the relative ability of academics to view themselves as progressive forces contained by these complex forces in tension. We argue that the promotion of a more critical and less politicized housing research agenda requires a more proactive response from the academic community than has hitherto been the case. We conclude that a politics of housing research production in Australia presents a distinctive set of issues that require attention; particularly a fragmented approach to social problems that has accentuated a silo approach to housing research focused on individual State responses, rather than concerted national action on social problems in this arena. © 2009 Taylor & Francis.