SEMILUX is back!
The University, LIS Datacenter and LISER invite you for a monthly seminar on social inequality and public policies, which will be held IN-PERSON and ON-LINE
Abstract:
As in many countries worldwide, Luxembourg’s housing crisis has emerged as a critical issue on the national political agenda. Ahead of the 2023 general elections, it was the number one issue for the resident population, yet paradoxically, politicians do not act as if there is a crisis. Historically, housing policies have predominantly focused on promoting homeownership, often neglecting the needs of tenants or affordable housing. The continued focus on homeownership, alongside the financialization of housing, has reinforced this trajectory, making it difficult to efficiently introduce alternative housing tenures. This research investigates how political elites frame the causes underlying the housing crisis and judge possible policy solutions, drawing on interviews conducted in 2022/23 with 21 Members of Parliament (MPs) from both the opposition and government. Using the theoretical framework of path dependence, this study identifies the continuities in housing policies that have transcended the political coalitions and parties responsible for the housing ministry over the past 50 years. Although political consensus is typically sought in Luxembourg, housing has increasingly become a point of division, even as each piece of legislation has incrementally built on previous policies without implementing drastic changes. This research identifies three discursive framings that may explain the disjuncture between the established mode of housing policy governance and the immediacy of the housing crisis: a heightened sense of individualism, internalized incrementalism, and the (false) belief among elites that they are or represent the average Luxembourger.
Please join us on Webex meetings by following the link below Meeting link:
https://unilu.webex.com/unilu/j.php?MTID=m920f5d9fb9dd79ea7092931f9cf5c65f
Meeting number:2731 603 4862 Meeting password:JYc5G7P4ghM
Mădălina Mezaroş is a social scientist at LISER and is currently pursuing a PhD on housing in Luxembourg, with a particular focus on gentrification, social inequalities and housing policies. Her recent publication examines how tax policies have accelerated the influx of investors into Luxembourg’s property market, turning housing into a financial asset. Drawing on the changing relationships between producers and consumers of housing, a forthcoming publication follows the trajectories of gentrification in Dudelange, Luxembourg, through the concept of gentrification regime. Her current research also explores the experiences of atypical cross-border workers from a housing perspective, focusing in particular on cross-border gentrification and displacement in the French-Luxembourgish border region.
If you would like to present your work at SEMILUX, please contact enrico.nichelatti@uni.lu.