History and Impact of Social Housing Initiatives in Europe and the United States

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This chapter delves into the housing crisis in Vienna post World War I and the subsequent large-scale non-commercial housing projects in many European countries. It contrasts the dominance of the real estate industry in the United States with the supportive stance of non-real estate capitalists in Europe towards de-commodified housing. The chapter also explores federal housing initiatives in the U.S., from the New Deal era to the challenges faced in implementing public housing programs.

Featuring Gail Radford on her classic book Modern Housing for America: Policy Struggles in the New Deal Era. Radford tells the story of Catherine Bauer, the Labor Housing Conference, and the struggle to make the American housing system a radically social one. In place of the two-tier system that won out, Bauer and her allies proposed a massive federally-backed system of noncommercial housing that would appeal to and house the majority of Americans. Support The Dig at Patreon.com/TheDig Check out Revolutionary Social Democracy: Working-Class Politics Across the Russian Empire (1882-1917) by Eric Blanc haymarketbooks.org/books/1907-revolutionary-social-democracy