A Theory of Housing Provision under Capitalism (Marx, Engels, and Marxisms)

This book provides the first coherent Marxist analysis of the central importance of housing in the social reproduction of capitalism as a whole. Rather than consigning housing to the sidelines, Berry argues that the circulation of capital and revenues though housing and the built environment helps explain how the capital-labour relation constrains housing outcomes while also being reproduced on an extended scale. He shows how housing is provided by the intervention of building, property and interest-bearing capital fractions; how the land question can be explained by a theory of urban land rent, drawing on Marx's categories of differential and monopoly rent; how housing is vital to the extended reproduction of labour power, while also creating a semi-separate sphere of 'home' in which gender and demographic factors overlay and accentuate social class position. The modes, impact and drivers of state intervention in housing provision are seen to modify the patterns and pace of capital circulation through housing and the urban built environment with implications for shifts in class fragmentation and power relations. Titles Published 7 Titles Forthcoming 12 Acknowledgments 15 Praise for A Theory of Housing Provision under Capitalism 17 Contents 19 About the Author 21 List of Figures 22 1 Introduction: Building from First Principles 23 1.1 Preamble 23 1.2 A Note on Method 25 1.3 Structure 31 References 36 Part I Housing as a Commodity 38 2 Housing as a Use Value 42 2.1 What Is Housing? 42 2.2 Housing as Exchange Value 46 References 49 3 The Production of Housing 50 References 61 4 The Realisation of Housing 63 4.1 Exchange 63 4.2 Financing 73 References 82 Part II Housing as a Land-use 83 5 The Territorial Imperative 87 Reference 92 6 A Theory of Urban Land Rent 93 References 107 7 Landed Property: An Historical Excursion 109 References 120 Part III Housing and Social Reproduction 121 8 The Extended Reproduction of Labour Power 125 References 133 9 The Social Construction of the Home 1: Culture 135 References 143 10 The Social Construction of the Home 2: Gender and Age 144 References 152 11 Housing and Class in the Neoliberal Era 153 References 163 Part IV Housing and the State 165 12 Housing and the Myth of the ‘Free Market’ 168 References 185 13 Housing, Wealth and Power 187 References 198 14 The Housing-Macro Nexus 199 References 213 Part V Navigating the Future 215 15 The Project: Architect Not Bee 216 References 228 16 Countering the Counter-Attack 229 References 234 17 Concluding Comments—The Limits to Capital 235 References 242 Index 243