Description
Book SynopsisBoth growth and unevenness in the distribution of housing wealth have become characteristic of advanced societies in recent decades. This book examines, in various contexts, how central housing property ownership has become to household well-being as well as in reshaping social, economic and political relations.
Expert contributors analyze the critical interactions between housing and wealth that lie at the heart of contemporary forms of capitalism, especially its global, neoliberal incarnation. Comparing and contrasting case studies from across the European continent, this book illustrates how these interactions are reshaping the function of housing as a welfare object, including how the financialisation and commodification of housing in the twenty-first-century has transformed its role and amplified distributional outcomes.
Practical and engaging, Housing Wealth and Welfare is a must-read for researchers and students of housing studies, social policy, sociology, social geography and political science. It will also appeal to policy makers within national and supra-national organisations and institutions such as the European Union, Housing Europe and the International Monetary Fund.
Contributors include: B. Bengtsson, S. Buchholz, C. Dewilde, J. Doling, T.P. Gerber, K. Kolb, S. Köppe, C. Lennartz, S. Mandic, M. Mrzel, M. Norris, R. Ronald, H. Ruonavaara, B.A. Searle, A.M. Soaita, J. Sørvoll, A. Wallace, J.R. Zavisca
Trade Review'Home ownership has always been connected to both welfare and wealth, but the ties have been strengthened in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. Now, the editors and authors of Housing Wealth and Welfare
discuss the current state of affairs. They sketch different scenarios for different countries and cohorts but never lose touch of the general trends. Required reading for anyone interested in the various faces of home ownership.' --Manuel B. Aalbers, KU Leuven, Belgium
'Housing Wealth and Welfare makes a timely and important contribution to our understanding of home ownership's role in shaping contemporary welfare states.' --Gavin Wood, RMIT University, Australia
Table of ContentsContents: 1. Why housing wealth and welfare? Richard Ronald and Caroline Dewilde PART I OLD AND NEW CONCEPTUALIZATIONS OF HOUSING AND WELFARE 2. The rise and fall of Ireland’s property based welfare state: Home ownership rates, policies and meanings in a historical perspective Michelle Norris 3. Home ownership, housing policy and path dependence in Finland, Norway and Sweden Bo Bengtsson, Hannu Ruonavaara and Jardar Sørvoll 4. Housing wealth and welfare over the life course Stephan Köppe and Beverley A. Searle 5. Housing wealth and welfare state restructuring – Between Asset-Based Welfare and the Social Investment Strategy Christian Lennartz PART II INSTITUTIONAL VARIEGATIONS OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HOUSING, WELFARE PROVISION AND INEQUALITY 6. Financial resilience and security: The impacts of the housing market downturn on low-income home owners in Northern Ireland Alison Wallace 7. Trends in social inequalities regarding home ownership: A comparison of East and West Germany Kathrin Kolb and Sandra Buchholz 8. Home ownership in post-socialist countries – The negative impact of the transition period on old-age welfare Srna Mandič and Maja Mrzel 9. Experiences of home ownership and housing mobility after privatization in Russia Jane R. Zavisca and Theodore P. Gerber 10. The changing nature of outright home ownership in Romania: Housing wealth and housing inequality Adriana Mihaela Soaita Epilogue Housing wealth and welfare: spatially and temporally contingent John Doling Index
