The Social Forces and Politics of Housing Research: Reflections from within the Academy

Abstract

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.

Keywords:

• Policymaking
• Politics of research
• Reflexivity
• Social change

Notes

1. So far under this trance of funding AHURI has commissioned a project on social exclusion and its utility for housing research (Arthurson and Jacobs 2003), a critical review of intervention studies and evidence based policy (O'Dwyer 2004) and understanding and enhancing research policy linkages (Jones and Seelig 2004, 2005).

2. It is important to note that other central government departments are also interested in housing research insofar as it touches on their own budgets, so for example the Department of Health has been interested in issues of health and housing, and several government departments were involved in the ESRC‐funded Evidence‐Based Policy and Practice Network (2002–2005).

3. In the UK social research has been facilitated in its links with central government through various means including inviting academic comments on policy proposals and research agendas, joint funding of autonomous academic centres and doctoral programs (like that of the DCLG on sustainable communities) as well as contractors of central government research on housing, urban and interrelated issues.

4. The growth and interest in housing research as a viable and important strand of broader policy, geographical, sociological and economic disciplines was also buttressed by the creation of the European Network for Housing Research in 1988. Annual conferences around Europe facilitated dialogue, often with the aim of addressing European‐level housing questions, such as integration, migration and social housing, and with an often direct engagement with housing and economic policymakers. This has been supplemented by Asian and Latin American affiliations.

5. It is likely that part of the reason for this is the socio‐tenurial structure in Australia whereby owning is either seen as a self‐evidently preferable tenure and the problems of homeowners have thereby become the articulated concerns of politicians.