Centring housing in political economy

Este artigo foi publicado originalmente em 2014, na revista Housing, Theory and Society, com a referência completa: Manuel B. Aalbers & Brett Christophers (2014) “Centring Housing in Political Economy”, Housing, Theory and Society, 31:4, 373-394, DOI: 10.1080/14036096.2014.947082. A revista CIDADES, Comunidades e Territórios reserva os direitos sobre a tradução para português, a cargo de Mariana Leite Braga (DINÂMIA’CET-IUL, [email protected]).A economia política do pós-guerra não tem, de um modo geral, atribuído um papel importante ao tema da “habitação”. A habitação enquanto política tem sido um exclusivo da análise das políticas sociais e do domínio crescente dos estudos da habitação. A habitação enquanto mercado tem estado confinada à economia ortodoxa. Este artigo insiste no facto de a análise da economia política não poder permanecer relativamente indiferente à questão da habitação, já que esta está envolvida na economia política capitalista contemporânea através de uma série de aspectos críticos, interligados e muitas vezes contraditórios. O artigo conceptualiza esta implicação, identificando os múltiplos papéis da habitação quando o “capital” – a “matéria-prima” essencial da economia política – é considerado a partir da perspectiva de cada uma das suas formas primárias e mutuamente constitutivas: como processo de circulação, como relação social e como ideologia. Ao mobilizar estas três ópticas com vista a facultar uma perspectiva geral crítica da habitação-na-economia-política (mais do que uma economia política da habitação), reunimos e conjugamos os vários contributos fundamentais da pesquisa sobre a habitação para o nosso entendimento progressivo do capitalismo

A Habitação no Centro da Economia Política

A economia política do pós-guerra não tem, de um modo geral, atribuído um papel importante ao tema da “habitação”. A habitação enquanto política tem sido um exclusivo da análise das políticas sociais e do domínio crescente dos estudos da habitação. A habitação enquanto mercado tem estado confinada à economia ortodoxa. Este artigo insiste no facto de a análise da economia política não poder permanecer relativamente indiferente à questão da habitação, já que esta está envolvida na economia política capitalista contemporânea através de uma série de aspectos críticos, interligados e muitas vezes contraditórios. O artigo conceptualiza esta implicação, identificando os múltiplos papéis da habitação quando o “capital” – a “matéria-prima” essencial da economia política – é considerado a partir da perspectiva de cada uma das suas formas primárias e mutuamente constitutivas: como processo de circulação, como relação social e como ideologia. Ao mobilizar estas três ópticas com vista a facultar uma perspectiva geral crítica da habitação-na-economia-política (mais do que uma economia política da habitação), reunimos e conjugamos os vários contributos fundamentais da pesquisa sobre a habitação para o nosso entendimento progressivo do capitalismo

Cultural and economic complementarities of spatial agglomeration in the British television broadcasting industry: Some explorations.

This paper considers the processes supporting agglomeration in the British television broadcasting industry. It compares and contrasts the insights offered by the cultural turn in geography and more conventionally economic approaches. It finds that culture and institutions are fundamental to the constitution of production and exchange relationships and also that they solve fundamental economic problems of coordinating resources under conditions of uncertainty and limited information. Processes at a range of spatial scales are important, from highly local to global, and conventional economics casts some light on which firms are most active and successful

Sold out? The right-to-buy, gentrification and working-class displacements in London

Since the 1990s, the renewal of council housing estates in London has involved widespread ‘decanting’ of resident populations to allow for demolition and redevelopment, primarily by private developers who sell the majority of new housing at market rate. This process of decanting has displaced long-term council tenants and shorter-term ‘temporary’ tenants, with many notable to return to the estate. In contrast, those leaseholders who bought under the ‘right-to-buy’ legislation introduced in the 1980s have a ‘right to remain’ by virtue of the property rights they have. Nonetheless, given the threat that their property will ultimately be subject to compulsory purchase because the redevelopment of the estate is in the ‘public interest’, these leaseholders experience similar displacement pressures to other residents. Describing these pressures, this article argues that the right-to-buy legislation offered these residents the illusion of entering a property-owning middle-class, but that they were never able to escape the labelling of council estates as stigmatised spaces which have ultimately been seized by the state and capital in a moment of ‘accumulation by dispossession’

Molecular evidence for the presence of malaria vector species a of the Anopheles annularis complex in Sri Lanka

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p><it>Anopheles annularis s.l</it>. is a wide spread malaria vector in South and Southeast Asia, including Sri Lanka. The taxon <it>An. annularis </it>is a complex of two sibling species viz. A and B, that are differentiated by chromosome banding patterns and ribosomal gene sequences in India. Only species A is reported to be a malaria vector in India while the occurrence of sibling species in Sri Lanka has not been documented previously.</p> <p>Findings</p> <p>Anopheline larvae were collected at a site in the Jaffna district, which lies within the dry zone of Sri Lanka, and reared in the laboratory. Emerged adults were identified using standard keys. DNA sequences of the D3 domain of 28S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) and the internal transcribed spacer-2 (ITS-2) of the morphologically identified <it>An. annularis </it>were determined. BLASTn searches against corresponding <it>An. annularis </it>sequences in GenBank and construction of phylogenetic trees from D3 and ITS-2 rDNA sequences showed that the Sri Lankan specimens, and <it>An. annularis s.l</it>. specimens from several Southeast Asian countries were closely related to species A of the Indian <it>An. annularis </it>complex.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results show the presence of the malaria vector <it>An. annularis </it>species A in Sri Lanka and Southeast Asia. Because <it>An. annularis </it>vectors have been long associated with malaria transmission in irrigated agricultural areas in the Sri Lankan dry zone, continued monitoring of <it>An. annularis </it>populations, and their sibling species status, in these areas need to be integral to malaria control and eradication efforts in the island.</p

Of cattle, sand flies and men : a systematic review of risk factor analyses for South Asian visceral leishmaniasis and implications for elimination

Background: Studies performed over the past decade have identified fairly consistent epidemiological patterns of risk factors for visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in the Indian subcontinent. Methods and Principal Findings: To inform the current regional VL elimination effort and identify key gaps in knowledge, we performed a systematic review of the literature, with a special emphasis on data regarding the role of cattle because primary risk factor studies have yielded apparently contradictory results. Because humans form the sole infection reservoir, clustering of kala-azar cases is a prominent epidemiological feature, both at the household level and on a larger scale. Subclinical infection also tends to show clustering around kala-azar cases. Within villages, areas become saturated over a period of several years; kala-azar incidence then decreases while neighboring areas see increases. More recently, post kalaazar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL) cases have followed kala-azar peaks. Mud walls, palpable dampness in houses, and peridomestic vegetation may increase infection risk through enhanced density and prolonged survival of the sand fly vector. Bed net use, sleeping on a cot and indoor residual spraying are generally associated with decreased risk. Poor micronutrient status increases the risk of progression to kala-azar. The presence of cattle is associated with increased risk in some studies and decreased risk in others, reflecting the complexity of the effect of bovines on sand fly abundance, aggregation, feeding behavior and leishmanial infection rates. Poverty is an overarching theme, interacting with individual risk factors on multiple levels. Conclusions: Carefully designed demonstration projects, taking into account the complex web of interconnected risk factors, are needed to provide direct proof of principle for elimination and to identify the most effective maintenance activities to prevent a rapid resurgence when interventions are scaled back. More effective, short-course treatment regimens for PKDL are urgently needed to enable the elimination initiative to succeed