1. Big Society and Localism Challenges for the Housing Academy

2. The Discourses ► Participation of actors in policy and delivery ► Community and mutuality ► Voluntary activity ► Locality

3. Also…… ► Small government ► Reductions in state expenditure ► Avoid crowding out ► Alleviation of poverty ► Differences in the discourses?

4. Implementation in housing ► Planning reforms; abolition of regional house building targets ► Neighbourhood planning ► Benefit reforms ► Resident involvement? Any actual changes? ► Mutualism and community organisation?

5. The State of Housing Studies ► Kemeny’s 1986 plea for more theoretical research (from disciplines) ► HTS in 2009 ► Much more theory but…. ► Some concerns

6. Some Concerns ► Positivism! ► Imperialistic? ► Opens up some inter-disciplinarity but closes down other opportunities eg behavioural economics ► Fits well with rational policy process (which no longer exists?)

7. Some concerns 2 ► Lack of an integrated theory of housing ► King/Clapham ► Fragmentation ► Lacunae eg political science ► Reduction of expenditure on housing research

8. Examination of 4 themes ► New house building ► Benefit reform ► Participation ► Mutuality

9. New House Building ► Planning reforms ► Abolition of targets ► Neighbourhood planning ► Reduction in central government guidance ► New homes bonus

10. The research issues ► How much will be built ► Neighbourhood planning from a political science perspective ► Democratic accountability/participation: power relations around housebuilding ► Behavioural element

11. The Behavioural Agenda ► Localisation and changes in attitudes (nimbyism) ► What is nimbyism? ► Is it selfish? ► Relationship to meaning of home and elective belonging? ► Power relationships? ► Can it be changed?

12. Benefit Reforms ► Impact on the incomes and housing circumstances of claimants ► But discourse emphasises changes in attitudes and behaviour ► Subjective well-being rather than economic rationality ► Psychological components of well-being (self-esteem/positive feeling about home)

13. Benefit Reforms ► Dynamic element of changes ► Pathways ► Other areas of life ► Agency ► Long term

14. Participation ► Different frameworks ► Structures ► Structures/processes/objectives (Cairncross et al) ► Foucault and governmentality (Mckee/Flint) ► Tenants as self-regulating agents subject to ethics of consumerism and duties of citizenship

15. Some issues with participation research ► Lack of integration ► Desirable and possible? ► Integrated approach to understanding the relationships between tenants, housing managers and the state

16. Agency in Cairncross et al ► Power relationships ► Agency empirically determined rather than assumed a priori ► Rules of the game – but not examined fully

17. Foucault ► Agents are acquiescent/sceptical/resistant ► But competing discourses? ► Range of attitudes and perceptions ► Strong emphasis on “rules of the game” ► Integration possible and desirable as same roots in conceptions of power

18. The Behavioural dimension ► to turn passive welfare recipients into autonomous, empowered and responsible individuals. ► Is this evil? ► key components of self-esteem, positive identity and well-being ► Needs a psychological dimension

19. Mutuality ► Different strand of research? ► Clapham et al/McKee ► More cost-effective ► Psychological impact of mutualism ► The context of mutualism viz McKee

20. Conclusion ► Ditch positivism! ► Limited positivism ► Lack of integration ► Move towards inter-disciplinarity ► Psychological and political dimensions ► Housing a good field and the Big Society etc a fertile field.