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Canadian housing policy as “passive revolution"

Resource type
Thesis type
(Thesis) M.A.
Date created
2019-08-19
Authors/Contributors
Author: Chan, Yuly
Abstract
This thesis argues that national housing policy has evolved as a crisis management strategy designed for capital rather than to address the housing needs of the working class. I employ Gramsci’s ‘passive revolution’ in an attempt to show that state intervention in housing mediates the contradictions of capital by restoring the balance of class forces and transforming housing from a ‘public good’ into an ‘investment’ in order to ensure the conditions of accumulation in the housing sector. By analyzing the historical development of the federal government’s housing policy through three phases – the interwar and the postwar regime from 1919-1975, the neoliberal regime from 1975-2008, and the global regime from 2008-2019 – I argue that the chief characteristics of each policy regime were shaped by the instances of passive revolution through which the state reorganizes the regime of accumulation and submerges class conflict. The findings conclude that globalization has rendered national level policies ineffective for managing the global contradictions that define the current housing crisis.
Identifier
etd20401
Copyright statement
Copyright is held by the author.
Permissions
This thesis may be printed or downloaded for non-commercial research and scholarly purposes.
Scholarly level
Supervisor or Senior Supervisor
Thesis advisor: Teeple, Gary
Member of collection
Model
English

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