2016 UAA Annual Conference

“A central problem of much of housing studies is that it retains a myopic and narrow focus on housing policy and housing markets, and neglects broader issues. Housing studies is still far too isolated from debates and theories in the other social sciences and what is needed now is further integration into these.” Jim Kemeny, 1992. “Can we theorize about housing? If so, why is it that it is seldom attempted? There is an overly deprecatory quality to theorizing on housing, an almost apologetic sense that housing is not substantive enough for theory. Housing, it is argued, is not an academic discipline, lacking its own concepts and methodologies. We therefore cannot theorize from housing phenomena, but only bring existing social theories to bear on these phenomena.” Peter King, 2009. To help stimulate the application of theory to housing research, the journal Housing, Theory and Society was launched 31 years ago (first as Scandinavian Housing and Planning Research). This colloquy focuses on the current state of housing theory. We will also consider the distinction Kemeny and King make above; the former arguing that researchers need to engage with and bring social theory into the housing field while the latter considers how, if housing is a unique phenomenon, then it might need theory making in its own right. While seemingly opposed, the distinction here is more one of emphasis, providing different opportunities for theorizing housing. The speakers – some past and present editors of Housing, Theory and Society – will discuss past efforts to theorize housing and current opportunities and challenges given the role housing plays in shaping life outcomes, global markets, human rights and spatial inequality among other things. We will look at issues in Europe, the UK and the US including immigration, refuge, security, homelessness, social housing, ownership/tenure and supported housing.