These Neoliberal Times: Narratives of Success and Failure in Housing Policy Keith Jacobs and Tony Manzi

For any way of thought to become dominant, a conceptual apparatus has to be advanced that appeals to our intuitions and instincts, to our values and our desires as well as to the possibilities inherent in the social world we inhabit (Harvey, 2005, p.5)

Neoliberalism (Definitions) The pursuit of the disenchantment of politics by economics (Davies, 2011, p.4) Elevation of market-based principles and techniques of evaluation to the level of state- endorsed norms (Davies, 2013, p.37) Economics as performative (McKenzie, 2011) Competition and competitiveness as unquestionable social goods (Davies, 2013, p.x)

Viewing neoliberalism as a singular and all-encompassing force squeezes the capacity both for analysis and for agency (Newman, 2012, p.158)

Neoliberalism and the Narrative of Success Emergence post crisis as more politically powerful than ever (Crouch, p.179) Evidence of a new global rationality (Dardot and Laval, 2013, p.3) Concepts of human dignity and individual freedom as compelling and seductive (Harvey, 2005) ‘Oppression through ontology and the politics of knowledge’ (Nickel, 2007)

Narratives of Governance under Austerity (Newman, 2012) Divestment – stripping away of governing functions Design – expertise beyond the state Decentralisation – bringing governance closer to communities

The ‘Success’ of Neoliberalism and Housing Public attitudes to welfare The narrative of austerity Depoliticisation New policy models as constitutive in effect Different configurations of neoliberalism (Larner, 2000, p.12)

It is no good simply denouncing ‘neoliberalism’ in a pejorative sense, without also understanding the genealogy, normativity and subtlety of the ideas that underpin it (Davies, 2011, p.xii)

Psycho-social Explanations ‘Cognitive polyphasia’ (Jovchelovitch, 2002) – co- existence of different and contradictory positions within individuals, institutions and communities Necessary psychical construction Disassociation from what we don’t like Avoidance of agency/culpability Compelling moral narrative Comfort in cynicism

Polyphasic Themes in Housing Debate (adapted from Renedo and Jovechelevitch, 2007) Structure v. Agency Principle v. Pragmatism Altruism v. self- interest Rights v. Responsibilities Strivers v. Scroungers Individual v. Collective

Neoliberalism and the Housing Agenda Regeneration, social mix and gentrification Social control and the remoralisation of society Welfare reform and ‘fairness’ The restructuring of housing tenure Neocommunitarianism (Davies, 2012) – The Third Way, Big Society and Blue Labour

The British state is in a system of rolling abdication, leaving behind a partly privatised, partly autonomised set of universal networks, increasingly run by absentee landlords in the form of global companies and overseas corporate investors, that is disproportionately funded by the poorest payers of taxes, fees and duties, many of whom are also deeply in debt (Meek, 2016)

Prospects for Change The performative power of networks – ‘everyday making’ (Davies, 2014) Relationship between everyday life and systemic trends/struggles Developing a pro-social agenda (Jacobs, 2015)

References Crouch, C. (2011) The Strange Non-Death of Neoliberalism Cambridge: Polity Dardot, P. and Laval, C. (2013) The New way of the World: On Neoliberal Society London: Verso Davies, J. (2011) Challenging Governance Theory: From Networks to Hegemony Bristol: Policy Press Davies, W. (2012) ‘The emerging neocommunitarianism’ The Political Quarterly, 83 (4), Davies, W. (2014) The Limits of Neoliberalism: Authority, Sovereignty and the Logic of Competition London: Sage Harvey, D. (2007) A Brief History of Neoliberalism Oxford: Oxford University Press Jacobs, K. (2015) ‘The allure of the Big Society’, Housing, Theory and Society, 32,1, pp,25-38 Jovchelovitch, S. (2007) Knowledge in Context: Representations, Community and Culture London: Routledge Larner, W. (2000) ‘Neoliberalism, policy, ideology, governmentality’, in M De Goede (ed.) International Political Economy and Poststructural Politics Hampshire: Palgrave

References (cont.) Meek, J. (2016) ‘Robin Hood in a time of austerity’, London Review of Books, 38, 4, pp.3-8 Moscivici, S. (2000) Social Representations: Explorations in Social Psychology Cambridge: Polity Press Newman, J. (2012) Working the Spaces of Power: Activism, Neoliberalism and Gendered Labour London: Bloomsbury Miller, H. (2012) Governing Narratives: Symbolic Politics and Policy Change University of Alabama Press Nickel, P. (2007) ‘Network governance and the new constitutionalism’, Administrative Theory and Praxis, 29,2, pp Renedo, A and Jovchelovitch, S. (2007) ‘Expert knowledge, cognitive polyphasia and health: a study on social representations of homelessness among professionals working in the voluntary sector in London’, Journal of Social Psychology, 12, 5, pp