For a political economy of housing and health

Abstract

Housing is recognized as an important social determinant of health. However, the association between housing and health is predominantly analyzed at the dwelling or neighborhood level. Little attention is paid to the housing-political structures shaping the housing-health nexus. This paper therefore proposes a research focus on the political economy of housing and health. It combines three literatures that rarely join forces: geographical studies on housing and health, the political economy of health, and critical housing studies. It further identifies different causal mechanisms through which political structures generate, reproduce and mediate housing-based health inequalities, and outlines methodological approaches to study these.