Le logement social au temps du néolibéralisme 

In this article, the author takes it as axiomatic that, with the influence of neoliberal theories on urban policies since the 1970’s, the role played by social housing has evolved rather than decreased. This opinion is based on Michel Foucault’s definition of neoliberal theory as a new partition bet...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Xavier Desjardins
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Métropoles 2008-12-01
Series:Métropoles
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/metropoles/3022
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Summary:In this article, the author takes it as axiomatic that, with the influence of neoliberal theories on urban policies since the 1970’s, the role played by social housing has evolved rather than decreased. This opinion is based on Michel Foucault’s definition of neoliberal theory as a new partition between politics and economics rather than a weakening of public action. The article then explains how public action is needed to the application of neoliberal theory in order to create favourable conditions for market competition. To create such conditions implies to keep people and territories in a situation of “equal inequality”, because market forces can’t operate in an exclusive society. Thus, social housing is now used to tackle exclusion, whereas during the post World-War II years of economic prosperity, it was considered as a supplementary income provided to thank workers for their contribution to society. The influence of neoliberal theory seems to the author a useful element if one wants to understand the evolution of housing policies in countries such as Great Britain, France, Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden.
ISSN:1957-7788