Property, Power and Poverty

How Housing Derailed the Economy and Democracy in Aotearoa-New Zealand
1. Auflage 2026
ISBN: 978-1-041-08652-9
Verlag: Taylor & Francis Ltd

Buch, Englisch, 160 Seiten, Format (B × H): 138 mm x 216 mm

Property, Power and Poverty examines power and inequality through the lens of Aotearoa-New Zealand’s housing crisis, situating it within broader global patterns.

Since the Great Financial Crisis (2007–08), rising housing costs, inadequate supply, and deepening wealth disparities have become critical issues in capitalist democracies. Drawing on a case study of Aotearoa-New Zealand, this book demonstrates how elite networks across politics, finance, media, and policy sustain a distorted housing market that privileges landlords, investors, and property owners while exacerbating social and economic inequalities. By focusing on the intersections of political economy, housing policy, media and elite interests, this book provides a nuanced analysis of the systemic causes behind the housing crisis. It reveals how financialisation, rentier capitalism, and deregulation have transformed housing from a basic human necessity into a speculative asset. Through engaging case studies and extensive empirical research, this book offers readers fresh insights into the structural conditions that fuel housing inequality. Policymakers, students, and the public will benefit from its exploration of alternative approaches to housing reform and market regulation.

Written for academics and non-specialists alike, this book is grounded in a three-year funded study involving 80 elite interviews, audits of ministerial diaries, Rich Listers, lobbyists and political donations, economic data, extensive media content analyses, and housing policy reviews. Its interdisciplinary approach bridges sociology, political science, media and economics, making it a valuable resource for those studying housing, inequality, or elite power structures. While thoroughly researched, the accessible writing style ensures its findings are useful for scholars and practitioners alike, contributing to critical debates on housing justice and political reform.

Zielgruppe

Academic and Postgraduate

Autoren/Hrsg.

Davis, Aeron

Fachgebiete

• Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Mediensoziologie
• Sozialwissenschaften Medien- und Kommunikationswissenschaften Medienwissenschaften

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Part I: The Problem 1. Introduction 2. What is a Home? What is a Housing Crisis? 3. Housing is Not a Simple Supply and Demand Problem! Part II: How We Got Here 4. The Politics of Housing Policy: Getting Government Out of the Way 5. Building the Housing Asset Economy 6. News Media and the Enrolment of Publics into the Asset Economy Part III: Why We Are Still Here 7. Housing and the Maintenance of Elite Wealth and Inequality 8. Lobbying for the Housing Policy Status Quo Part IV: What to do About Property, Power and Poverty 9. Conclusion

Über Autor(innen)

Aeron Davis is Professor of Political Communication at the Political Science and International Relations Programme of Te Herenga Waka-Victoria University of Wellington.