Race, Housing and Community: Perspectives on Policy and Practice

This book provides an important new contribution to debates around housing policy, race and community.

There has never been a more prescient time to discuss these concepts: the book gives an interpretation of housing, race and community in a highly politicized and fluid policy context.  It is designed to initiate discussion and debate but this should not be esoteric and limited to a group of academics.  Rather, the aim is to bridge academic and policy audiences in the hope that this fusion provides a basis for a different and emerging perspective.

Race and community have been key features of social housing policy over the last 20 years with many high–profile interventions, from the proactive approach by the Housing Corporation to support black and minority ethnic housing associations, to the influential Macpherson report into the murder of Stephen Lawrence and the Home Office–led inquiry documenting segregation in towns and cities following the 2001 riots. However, the volume of policy interventions and reports has not been matched by academic outputs that co–ordinate, integrate and critically analyze race, housing and community. 

Race, Housing & Community: perspectives on policy & practice is the first systematic overview during this tumultuous period. The material presented is robust and research–based but also directly engages with issues around policy and delivery. The book is designed to reflect the interests both of the academic research community and policy makers on both sides of the Atlantic.  It is not rooted to specific policy interventions that could quickly date but instead focuses on developing new ways to analyze difficult issues that will help both students and practitioners, now and in the future.

Glossary ix

Acknowledgements xiv

1 Race, Housing and Community 1

Introduction 1

An early note about race 2

About this book 23

2 Housing Policy and Practice 27

Introduction 27

Policy context 28

Housing and community cohesion: a critique 31

Looking ahead: a new agenda? 36

Declining interest in race and housing:

from Macpherson to cohesion 39

The turning of the wheel: ′muscular liberalism′ and integration 45

Conclusion: a housing journey through multiculturalism, cohesion and integration 49

3 Developing Cohesive Neighbourhoods in UK Cities: White Perspectives 51

Introduction 51

Race, culture and change 52

Connecting communities: a focus on white working class communities? 54

Whiteness: culture and pathology 56

Community cohesion, institutions and white communities 63

Housing, fairness and equity: case studies of three neighbourhoods in England 65

Conclusion 78

4 The Emergence of the Black Led Housing Sector 79

Introduction 79

The rise of race and housing 80

Organisational or system failure? 83

Declining interest in race and housing: the problem with regulation and representation 91

A recovery of the black and minority ethnic housing sector? 96

Conclusion 98

5 Housing, Communities and ′Recycled Racism′ 103

Introduction 103

The emergence of super–diversity in the UK 104

Recycled racism 112

Conclusion 127

6 New Frameworks for Race, Housing and Community 129

Introduction 129

Towards a new approach to race and housing 135

Looking ahead: a new agenda? 139

Policy implications 142

Conclusion 149

Appendix A – Public Service Futures: the future of identify and belonging (OPM) 151

Appendix B – LGA guidance on community cohesion 193

Appendix C – Three Definitions of Community Cohesion 265

References 269

Index 277

Harris Beider was appointed Professor in Community Cohesion at the Institute of Community Cohesion based at Coventry University in September 2007. Previously he was Senior Fellow at the Centre for Urban and Regional Studies at the University of Birmingham. Prior to his academic career, Harris was Executive Director of the Federation of Black Housing Organizations and founding Director of People for Action. He was also an advisor to government on community renewal and social exclusion the latter as a member of the Prime Minister′s Social Exclusion Unit. Harris Beider has written extensively on race, cohesion, community and housing and spoken about these and related subjects nationally and internationally.

“This provides a context for the book’s central premise, which is to lay the foundations for new ideas and frameworks to develop academic and policy debates on race and housing. . . This book is recommended reading for students studying social policy, sociology, housing and politics. . . An important contribution that Beider’s book makes is in highlighting the areas where further debate is needed.”  (Journal of Social Policy, 1 January 2013)

“I highly recommend the systematic and framework focused book Race, Housing and Community: Perspectives on Policy and Practice by Harris Beider, to anyone in academia, students of race and housing, public policy makers, business leaders, and community organizers who are seeking a workable framework approach to the topics of race, housing, and community cohesion. This book will open the dialogue to creating a fusion of ideas to further the conversation to create stronger community relations and cohesion.”  (Blog Business World, 20 March 2012)