From Bad Landlords to Harmful Housing: A Global East Perspective on a Neglected Criminological Topic

• In Event: Shedding Light on the Global East: An Empirical Perspective

Abstract

The housing question has long been recognised as criminologically relevant in many ways, from its role as a factor in criminal action and desistance to its significance as a space where new modes of social control are implemented. However, only a handful of studies have so far addressed its increasing importance in the context of the current global housing crisis. In this paper, I suggest developing criminological research on housing by focusing on the harmful practices that characterize asymmetric relationships between landlords and tenants, particularly at the lower rungs of the social ladder. I further argue that this approach can greatly benefit from incorporating insights from other disciplines, such as the sociology of housing, which offers a remarkable discussion of the conceptualisation of exploitation in housing. Just as this discussion reveals the desirability of moving from an individualistic understanding of harmful landlord practices to a broader conception grounded in the notion of structural vulnerability, so does my paper argue for seeing these practices as emerging from a specific political economy of housing. The rest of my paper is an empirical illustration of the theoretical argument, using findings from my research on harmful landlord practices in a Global East context. Specifically, I outline how these practices are the result of policy decisions regarding the promotion of owner-occupied housing at the expense of other forms of housing, primarily through the large-scale give-away privatization of public housing that is typical of the Global East context.

Author

• Václav Walach, University of Ostrava