This session of our Theory Series will introduce attendees to a socialist understanding of the housing crisis. Housing presents a vital site of class struggle, where the existential human need for shelter comes in conflict with the capitalist profit motive. We will discuss how this basic conflict means that capitalism, always prioritizing profit, can never provide adequate and affordable housing for all. We will discuss the parasitic relation between tenants and landlords in comparison and contrast to the exploitative relation between workers and bosses. We will discuss the tensions between working-class homeowners, renters, and the unhoused - and how the capitalist class preys on these constituencies whether property values rise or fall. We will discuss the history and ongoing reality of racist discrimination in housing in the United States, a story that spans redlining, restrictive covenants, neglect and dismantling of public housing, gentrification, and subprime mortgage lending. We will discuss social housing systems that thwart capitalist markets, especially the famous public housing of early-20th century “Red Vienna.” Finally, we will explore how workers and tenants across the country are building a movement to fight for the right to housing fit for lives of dignity and flourishing.

Core Readings:

• Robbie Nelson - “Capitalism Can’t Give Us Affordable Housing”

• Tracy Rosenthal & Leonardo Vilchis - “Rent Is the Crisis” from Abolish Rent: How Tenants Can End the Housing Crisis

Further Reading:

• KC Tenants - “Could We End Evictions?”

• Meagan Day - “We Can Have Beautiful Public Housing”

• Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor - “Against Black Homeownership”