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Just Housing

The Moral Foundations of American Housing Policy

Part of Urban and Industrial Environments

Author Casey J. Dawkins

Paperback

$40.00 US

The MIT Press

6"W x 9.06"H x 0.75"D (15.2 x 23.0 x 1.9 cm) | 19 oz (527 g) | 28 per carton

On sale Aug 31, 2021 | 336 Pages | 9780262543071

Sales rights: World

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Nonfiction > Politics > Domestic Politics

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A new conception of housing justice grounded in moral principles that appeal to the home’s special connection to American life.

In response to the twin crises of homelessness and housing insecurity, an emerging “housing justice” coalition argues that America’s apparent inability to provide decent housing for all is a moral failing. Yet if housing is a right, as housing justice advocates contend, what is the content of that right? In a wide-ranging examination of these issues, Casey Dawkins chronicles the concept of housing justice, investigates the moral foundations of the US housing reform tradition, and proposes a new conception of housing justice that is grounded in moral principles that appeal to the home’s special connection to American life.
Dawkins examines the conceptual foundations of justice and explores the social meaning of the American home. He chronicles the evolution of American housing reform, showing how housing policy was pieced together from layers of housing and land-use policies enacted over time, and investigates the endurance—from the founding of the republic through the postwar era—of the owned single-family home as the embodiment of national values. Finally, Dawkins considers housing justice, drawing on elements of liberalism, republicanism, progressivism, and pragmatism to defend a right-based conception of housing justice grounded in the ideal of civil equality. Arguing that any defense of private property must appeal to the interests of those whose tenure is made insecure by the institution of private property, he proposes a “secure tenure” property regime and a “negative housing tax” that would fund a guaranteed housing allowance.

“A very relevant and a high-quality contribution to the literature on housing and urban studies.”
—Papers in Regional Science

“A thorough, engaging treatise on housing justice. Anyone focused on social justice issues generally will have a great deal of interest in Dawkins’s book.”
—CHOICE

“An important contribution to teh American housing policy and advocacy conversation.”
—Journal of Urban Affairs

Casey J. Dawkins is Professor of Urban Studies and Planning and Affiliate of the National Center for Smart Growth at the University of Maryland. He is coauthor of The Social Impacts of Urban Containment.

Casey J. Dawkins View titles by Casey J. Dawkins

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Preface
Acknowledgements
Part I: Foundations
Introduction
1 The Materials of American Housing Justice
Part II: Context
2 The Natural Right to a Homestead
3 Housing for the Common Good
4 Modern Housing and the Homeownership Republic
5 Homes without Foundations
Part III: Structure
6 The Architecture of Housing Justice
7 Private Property and the Injustice of Tenure Insecurity
8 Taking Housing Justice Seriously
Conclusion
Notes
References
Index

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