1,721,339 research outputs found
Comparative housing research:a 'system-embedded' approach
No full textThis paper seeks to rebuild and strengthen the case for policy-related comparative housing research as an academic activity. Critiques that have discouraged the practice of international research have undermined its legitimacy whilst eroding the evidence base, and have devalued its function through the use of value-laden language and unevidenced assertions. While ‘glocalisation’ presents a challenge to cross-national research we argue that nation states are still policy resource rich, and that the existence of distinctive nationalinstitutions through which common international pressures are mediated strengthens the case for it. Building on an examination of the distinctive qualities of housing compared to the main ‘pillars’ of the welfare state, we make the case for what we call ‘system-embedded research’.This marks a development from existing ‘middle ways’, being founded on the principle thatpolicy is conceived within wider housing systems and housing systems themselves operatewithin wider social and economic structures. Through contrasting case studies we show thatif founded on the principle of being system-embedded, policy-related comparative housingresearch can reap high rewards; but if it does not it carries grave risks
Understanding housing and welfare
No full textIn this chapter, the basic concepts of housing and welfare are clarified by editors Martin Grander and Mark Stephens. The notions of welfare regimes and housing regimes are defined and elaborated, discussing the distributional logic of welfare and housing in different contexts. The chapter discusses the basis for Esping-Andersen’s classic typology of welfare regimes as well as more recent developments, critiques, and alternative understandings of such a categorization. Regarding housing, the authors first introduce how comparative approaches to theorize housing have mirrored approaches more closely focused on welfare states. Here, the “housing-welfare regime” framework, founded by Kemeny, serves as the main point of departure. Thus, the chapter introduces and summarizes the two principal articulations of regime theory as applied to the welfare state and to housing, as well as the key studies that preceded them. It also highlights the political and economic context in which these regimes were created in the 20th century and how this has changed under the pressures of economic globalization and political fragmentation. The chapter also demonstrates how regime theory has bifurcated between housing and the wider welfare state and this inevitably inhibits our ability to understand the relationship between them, particularly in a changing world
The embeddedness of housing in the welfare regime
No full textThis chapter addresses the embeddedness of housing in the wider welfare regime. Through an analytical framework constructed on the basis of earlier research and empirical findings from previous chapters in the book, editors Martin Grander and Mark Stephens develop the theoretical understanding of the embeddedness of housing in the wider welfare regime. The chapter connects the changes in the global housing and welfare regimes described in the previous chapter to the previous understanding of the housing-welfare nexus. The authors start by examining the countries’ wider welfare regimes, and then the housing regimes, first within the context of Kemeny’s typology of housing regimes, and then within the framework based on previous work by Stephens, where housing is examined through the spheres of production, consumption and exchange. Finally, the two perspectives are drawn together. By such an application the authors contribute to an updated understanding of how housing can be understood and analysed as part of the welfare state
Changes in housing and welfare – a global analysis
No full textIn this chapter, editors Martin Grander and Mark Stephens draw conclusions on the changes in housing and welfare regimes based on the empirical findings from the countries explored in the previous chapters. The chapter shows that both housing and welfare systems – regardless of their earlier constitution – have changed markedly in terms of income inequality and housing accessibility due to processes such as marketization and income polarization. Inequalities in both housing and welfare have in some countries been reinforced during the last decade by migration and everywhere by the COVID-19 pandemic. The current economic crisis continues to exacerbate such inequalities as inflation and increasing interest rates tend to place a disproportionate strain on low-income households. The chapter shows how the development of the national housing policy is driven by policies of fiscal consolidation, rather than welfare state development. This development calls for a more in-depth analysis of the interrelation between housing and the wider welfare state, which also includes the sphere of finance
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