Between Structure and Thatcher. Towards a Research Agenda for Theory-Informed Actor-Related Analysis of Housing Politics

Abstract

Researchers in the field of housing studies only seldom employ a ‘politics perspective’, analysing the political games and processes of housing provision and the political institutions of relevance to these processes. Instead political aspects are largely discussed either in terms of structural and cultural conditions and constraints on the macro level (‘Structure’ in the title), or as rather descriptive narratives about specific governments, elite actors and institutions, without the theoretical linkage necessary to draw more general conclusions (‘Thatcher’ in the title). This article introduces and develops some basic theoretical elements of a research agenda within housing studies exploring political actors (in a wide sense) and institutions, and allowing middle-range theorising and generalisation. It is discussed how such a perspective can be applied to the field of housing with its political specificities, in particular the central role of markets. Some earlier research of relevance to housing politics is reviewed, and ways forward are suggested.