Malcolm Harrison

Towards Intercultural Engagement: Building Shared Visions of Neighbourhood and Community in an Era of New Migration

Concerns about the consequences of new migration for good community relations have brought calls for bridge-building between apparently disconnected groups through greater social contact, intercultural dialogue and co-operation at the local scale. Although several initiatives have sought to build stronger relations between new and settled groups in the UK, we know relatively little about the impact of these encounters on those involved or their effectiveness in promoting good relations. In this paper, we explore the potential to erode perceived differences between diverse groups through dialogue around shared neighbourhood and community concerns. Drawing on interview and observational data in Bradford, our findings suggest that intercultural dialogue facilitates mutual learning and presents an opportunity to negotiate socially constructed group boundaries, unsettle racialised, gendered and class-based understandings of ‘self’ and ‘other’, and challenge emotions, myths and stereotypes that can underpin everyday animosities between new and settled residents. However, the capacity for co-operation around neighbourhood issues was found to differ within and between populations, reflecting complexities of identification, affiliation and belonging. Furthermore, bridge-building exercises between vulnerable new migrants and established groups with a stronger political voice and social rights may not be able to compensate for unfavourable dynamics of power between them.

Defining housing quality and environment: disability, standards and social factors

This paper considers quality standards and meanings of housing environments while discussing disability and housing. It challenges assumptions about the importance of physical housing quality, and suggests caution about the benefits of raising physical standards. After a brief introduction, comments are made on contemporary issues concerning standards, past difficulties arising from professional power and political priorities, and problems in proving causation. There is then a discussion of the approach appropriate when drawing on the social model of disability, and the multi‐dimensional nature of the home environment. This is followed by observations on housing quality. A classification is offered of factors potentially influencing consumer perceptions, indicating social dimensions of a good quality home and residential environment.

Constructing an Integrated Society: Historical Lessons for Tackling Black and Minority Ethnic Housing Segregation in Britain

Persistent segregation in deprived inner areas of British cities can be seen as both a symptom and a cause of ethnic inequalities, and as an indicator of the failure of minority ethnic groups to integrate into wider society. This paper takes an historical perspective, tracing shifting emphases of political discourses and policy approaches to minority ethnic residential segregation and inclusion, and setting these alongside broader understandings of governmental social control. The paper reflects on episodes of post-1945 intervention into settlement patterns and housing circumstances, and highlights key problematic experiences associated with certain kinds of ‘top-down’ interventions going beyond ethnicity. It is concluded that neither demolitions nor dispersal are very likely to generate social integration, unless they reflect and reinforce positive adaptation strategies that minority ethnic households already tend to pursue. The keys to constructive social development lie primarily outside the realms of housing renewal and governmental strategies for social engineering.

‘Race’, Deprivation and the Research Agenda: Revisiting Housing, Ethnicity and Neighbourhoods

Building on a general account of recent changes and on local case study material, this paper develops an overview of contemporary issues in the interconnected research domains of UK ethnic relations, disadvantage and housing neighbourhoods. It aims to contribute to some rethinking of ethnic disadvantage and discrimination within analytical frameworks, while looking towards more defensible research strategies. Matters referred to in our overview of change include regulatory developments, diversities within and between settled minority ethnic groups, changed patterns of in-migration, disadvantage amongst low-income white households and convergence between ethnic groups in internal socio-economic differentiation. A West Midlands case study used to complement this broad coverage provides reminders of shared problems across ethnic boundaries, and of the merits of caution when hypothesising causative links between deprivation and ethnicity in disadvantaged areas. The section ‘Towards Better Research Practice?’ discusses research approaches and priorities, suggesting that it may be useful to revisit the ‘traditional repertoire’ deployed in the UK ethnic relations and housing.

Minority ethnic housing associations and local housing strategies: An uncertain future?

This paper discusses future prospects for minority ethnic housing associations in the context of local housing strategies. It takes account of some major developments in Housing Corporation policy which took place towards the end of the period of Conservative government, and considers the impact of the election of the new Labour government. The change of government provides an appropriate moment at which to draw attention to the positive achievements of the past ten years, and to highlight possible options for building further on the work of the associations in the late 1990s.

Black‐led housing organisations and the housing association movement

Abstract This article discusses the development and contributions of the black voluntary housing movement in the context of a broader review of trends within the housing association field. Material is drawn from a completed north of England study of black and minority ethnic housing organisations, and from research in hand on the responses of mainstream housing associations to minority ethnic needs. Particular attention is given to the role of mainstream associations in assisting emerging black‐led and minority ethnic housing organisations, and to the dependency encouraged by national financial regimes. Central government policies on funding after 1988 were having inhibiting and distorting affects on the activities of recently established and emergent minority ethnic housing organisations. Attempts were being made to offset this situation by efforts from the Housing Corporation at regional level and from some mainstream associations.

A Review of “Housing Boom and Bust: Owner Occupation, Government Regulation and the Credit Crunch” and “The Politics of Housing Booms and Busts”

These two books touch on recent financial and political histories from a housing perspective. King’s contribution might best be described as a sole-authored essay that presents particular lines of argument, and is perhaps likely to be attractive especially to politicians and ‘think-tank’ members who are keen advocates for marketised solutions in housing and finance. The analysis builds mainly (although not entirely) from British experience, and refers to matters such as the UK ‘Right-to-Buy’ in the social housing sector, and the performance of former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, but there is also discussion of the USA. The volume does not depend substantially on deploying new empirical detail on institutional, economic or housing trends, but explores broad concerns related to how people live, and to happenings in a variety of interconnected settings. Somewhat in contrast, the collection edited by Schwartz and Seabrooke offers an array of detailed investigative chapters from writers covering histories and issues across the USA, UK, New Zealand, Norway, Australia, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, France and Spain. The foci and depth vary somewhat, but overarching themes about politics, economics and causation help orientate contributions. At their best, individual chapters fuse empirical historical material with explanatory comment in ways that greatly illuminate welfare state political issues and their links to housing. Tranøy’s chapter on Norway stands out in this regard. We will begin with King’s book. The preface indicates that the author wants to understand financial crisis not just as a worldwide event, but also ‘from the perspective of individual households’, and that a foundation for this lies in how ‘we use markets . . . as individuals who relate to objects based on our needs, desires and aspirations’ (p. x). King claims a ‘distinctive and important’ perspective on the collapse of housing markets (p. xii), one argument being that what is missing from debates is the private