Philosophy is not usually seen as a guidance for modern housing policy, but in this new book, Dr Helen Taylor argues that there is something innovative, unusual, and worth discussing about the application of philosophy to housing. The philosophical framework used within this book is John Rawls’ conception of justice as fairness. The UK has gone through several shifts in housing policy over the past decade, most recently by introducing the controversial ‘Bedroom Tax’, in an effort to make more cuts to benefits and social welfare. Social Justice in Contemporary Housing: Applying Rawls’ Difference Principle suggests that by using ideas of agency we can understand the impact that social policy has on individuals and wider society. The work outlines the liberal principle of legitimacy and argues that Rawls’ concept of reasonableness can, and should, be used to justify the intervention of policy in individuals’ lives. This book will be of interest to undergraduate and postgraduate students of housing as well as philosophy and social policy, and also those working around the creation and implementation of social housing in the UK.

Throughout his distinguished and influential career, David Harvey has defined and redefined the relationship between politics, capitalism, and the social aspects of geographical theory. Laying out Harvey's position that geography could not remain objective in the face of urban poverty and associated ills, Social Justice and the City is perhaps the most widely cited work in the field. Harvey analyzes core issues in city planning and policy--employment and housing location, zoning, transport costs, concentrations of poverty--asking in each case about the relationship between social justice and space. How, for example, do built-in assumptions about planning reinforce existing distributions of income? Rather than leading him to liberal, technocratic solutions, Harvey's line of inquiry pushes him in the direction of a "revolutionary geography," one that transcends the structural limitations of existing approaches to space. Harvey's emphasis on rigorous thought and theoretical innovation gives the volume an enduring appeal. This is a book that raises big questions, and for that reason geographers and other social scientists regularly return to it.

In Rethinking Poverty, James P. Bailey argues that most contemporary policies aimed at reducing poverty in the United States are flawed because they focus solely on insufficient income. Bailey argues that traditional policies such as minimum wage laws, food stamps, housing subsidies, earned income tax credits, and other forms of cash and non-cash income supports need to be complemented by efforts that enable the poor to save and accumulate assets. Drawing on Michael Sherraden’s work on asset building and scholarship by Melvin Oliver, Thomas Shapiro, and Dalton Conley on asset discrimination, Bailey presents us with a novel and promising way forward to combat persistent and morally unacceptable poverty in the United States and around the world. Rethinking Poverty makes use of a significant body of Catholic social teachings in its argument for an asset development strategy to reduce poverty. These Catholic teachings include, among others, principles of human dignity, the social nature of the person, the common good, and the preferential option for the poor. These principles and the related social analyses have not yet been brought to bear on the idea of asset-building for the poor by those working within the Catholic social justice tradition. This book redresses this shortcoming, and further, claims that a Catholic moral argument for asset-building for the poor can be complemented and enriched by Martha Nussbaum’s “capabilities approach.” This book will affect current debates and practical ways to reduce poverty, as well as the future direction of Catholic social teaching.

From environmental decline to growing economic inequality, things are getting worse for the majority of the human race and will continue to worsen until determined action is taken. Starting from this vantage point, Building Better Societies looks to social scientists to identify what is needed to solve the problems that are leading to a collapse of civil society. This is the first book to collect the ideas of those whose research on social conditions is at the forefront of our biggest societal problems. Challenging fellow social scientists to cast aside their commitment to the established order and its ideological support systems, Building Better Societies argues that social researchers must, as objectively as possible, use their skills to look ahead, identify the likely outcomes of various forms of intervention, and move to the forefront of informed political debate. Bringing together expert contributors researching the many aspects of our social condition, this book channels the energy of social scientists into a more normative and engaged voice; it asks them what mechanisms, interventions, and evidence we might draw on as we make a better world.

Philosophy is not usually seen as a guidance for modern housing policy, but in this new book, Dr Helen Taylor argues that there is something innovative, unusual, and worth discussing about the application of philosophy to housing. The philosophical framework used within this book is John Rawls' conception of justice as fairness. The UK has gone through several shifts in housing policy over the past decade, most recently by introducing the controversial 'Bedroom Tax', in an effort to make more cuts to benefits and social welfare. Social Justice in Contemporary Housing: Applying Rawls' Difference Principle suggests that by using ideas of agency we can understand the impact that social policy has on individuals and wider society. The work outlines the liberal principle of legitimacy and argues that Rawls' concept of reasonableness can, and should, be used to justify the intervention of policy in individuals' lives. This book will be of interest to undergraduate and postgraduate students of housing as well as philosophy and social policy, and alsothose working around the creation and implementation of social housing in the UK.

In every major city in the world there is a housing crisis. How did this happen and what can we do about it? Everyone needs and deserves housing. But today our homes are being transformed into commodities, making the inequalities of the city ever more acute. Profit has become more important than social need. The poor are forced to pay more for worse housing. Communities are faced with the violence of displacement and gentrification. And the benefits of decent housing are only available for those who can afford it. In Defense of Housing is the definitive statement on this crisis from leading urban planner Peter Marcuse and sociologist David Madden. They look at the causes and consequences of the housing problem and detail the need for progressive alternatives. The housing crisis cannot be solved by minor policy shifts, they argue. Rather, the housing crisis has deep political and economic roots—and therefore requires a radical response.

This textbook will familiarize readers with some of the most pressing solidarity and social justice issues in contemporary societies. Ongoing and emerging inequalities along the lines of gender, age, socio-economic status, ethnic background, and sexual orientation challenge the solidarity underlying societies, resulting in complex questions of social justice. Moreover, several global challenges, such as digitalization, climate change, and the COVID-19 pandemic challenge solidarity and social justice in new ways. How do societies respond to these enduring, growing or changing inequalities? Do these challenges lead to an expansion or an erosion of solidarity, in an 'us versus them' rhetoric? And to what extent do societies differ in their social justice values and hence the acceptance of social inequality? Taking a sociological, psychological, and political philosophical approach to these topics, this book offers state-of-the art theoretical and empirical contributions from globally-recognized scholars in sociology, psychology, and political philosophy, providing a unique interdisciplinary approach to understanding solidarity and social justice in response to social inequalities in contemporary European societies.