SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONISM IN HOUSING RESEARCH
First published 2004 by Ashgate Publishing
Published 2016 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon 0X14 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017, USA
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
Copyright 2004 Keith Jacobs, Jim Kemeny and Tony Manzi
Keith Jacobs, Jim Kemeny and Tony Manzi have asserted their right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as editors of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Notice:
Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Social Constructionism in housing research
1. Housing - Research 2. Social psychology 3. Discourse
analysis 4. Social interaction
1. Jacobs, Keith II. Kemeny, Jim III. Manzi, Tony
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress
ISBN: 9780754638377 (hbk)
Contents
List of Figures and Tables
List of Contributors
Preface and Acknowledgements
Keith Jacobs, Jim Kemeny and Tony Manzi
Max Travers
Peter King
Jim Kemeny
Greg Marston
David Clapham
Kathleen J. Mee
Michael Darcy and Tony Manzi
Anna Haworth, Tony Manzi and Jim Kemeny
David Clapham is Professor of Housing Studies at the Centre for Housing Management, Cardiff University.
Michael Darcy is Senior Lecturer in the School of Applied Social and Human Sciences, University of Western Sydney.
Anna Haworth is a Principal Lecturer in the School of the Built Environment and Architecture, University of Westminster.
Keith Jacobs is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Sociology, Social Work and Tourism, University of Tasmania.
Jim Kemeny is Professor of Housing and Urban Sociology at the Institute for Housing and Urban Research, University of Uppsala.
Peter King is Reader in Housing and Social Philosophy at the Centre for Comparative Housing Research, De Montfort University.
Tony Manzi is a Senior Lecturer in the School of the Built Environment and Architecture, University of Westminster.
Greg Marston is a Lecturer in the School of Social Work and Applied Human Sciences, University of Queensland.
Kathleen J. Mee is a Lecturer in Geography in the School of Environment and Life Sciences, University of Newcastle, New South Wales.
Max Travers is a Lecturer in the School of Sociology, Social Work and Tourism, University of Tasmania.
The idea for this book emerged from discussions following a recent joint paper written by the editors on the social construction of housing problems for the journal Housing Studies. It was apparent to us that in recent years housing researchers have been increasingly inspired by social constructionism. At the same time social constructionism has a long research tradition in the social sciences, stretching back to the late 1800s. Social constructionism also comprises a variety of perspectives discourse analysis is just one of these that many housing researchers are unaware of and that can provide a rich source of inspiration. Yet there are no books directly relevant to housing that bring together the range of different approaches deployed or provide a critical commentary on their application. We hope that this book, by showing the complexity and wide range of social constructionist perspectives and by providing examples of recent developments within the field, comprises a first step in filling this gap and in so doing will contribute to the development of a future social constructionist housing research agenda.
Our thanks to all of the contributors who responded to our requests with courtesy and delivered their papers in accordance to our time schedule. We are also grateful to Pat FitzGerald for her assistance in preparing the manuscript for publication.
Chapter 1
Introduction
Keith Jacobs, Jim Kemeny and Tony Manzi
The Return to Theory
One of the most encouraging features of contemporary housing research has been a willingness to draw upon explicit theory from the different social science disciplines. The best housing scholarship has always embraced social theory: for example, political economy (Merritt, 1979; Ball, 1983; Maclennan, 1982; Muellbauer, 1990), political science (Dunleavy, 1981), social geography (Harvey, 1973; Smith, 1989; Massey, 1994) and sociology (Rex and Moore, 1967; Castells, 1977; Saunders, 1990). However, as housing courses began to be offered in the university sector in the 1980s and early 1990s, their growth was not accompanied by significant explicit theoretical innovation. Instead the development of the field of housing studies was dominated by a strong presumption that the primary task of research was to aid policy prescription. Such an outcome can best be explained by the lack of enthusiasm from funding bodies for theoretical innovation in favour of evidence-based policy analysis.
Though the commitment to prescriptive policy-based research continues, it is no longer the case that theoretically explicit research is viewed as suspicious or portrayed as superfluous. In fact, judging by the articles now appearing in academic journals such as Housing Studies, Housing Theory and Society and Urban Studies, there is an abundance of housing research embracing a range of theoretical perspectives.
The rationale for this edited collection is to bring together in one volume a detailed discussion of one theoretical perspective on housing, namely social constructionism. We feel that such a volume is long overdue now that social constructionism has emerged as an influential perspective and its application extends to a number of different areas of housing research. This introductory chapter discusses some general themes, all of which will be developed further in subsequent chapters. It sets out the different influences that have so far informed social constructionist perspectives in the field of housing research; namely discourse theories, the sociology of social problems, symbolic interactionism and the sociology of power. While to some degree these themes overlap, it is expedient, nonetheless, to set out how each of these have informed contemporary housing research.
Before this, it is helpful to set out some of the reasons why housing academics have become more receptive to theory. Firstly, there is a now a widespread understanding that explicit theorising produces better quality research outcomes. In particular, it provides the basis for a clear framework that enables the reader to scrutinise research on its own terms and avoid ambiguity. Secondly, there is an appreciation that housing research cannot be undertaken successfully in isolation from wider debates taking place in other social science disciplines. Thirdly, the context of housing has altered significantly; in particular the residualisation of the British and Australian social rental housing stock and transformation of the nation state accentuated by globalisation processes have encouraged researchers to seek appropriate theories and concepts to make sense of these changes.
