PhilSoc Next Week
Matthew Maguire
Hi everyone,
The PhilSoc seminar next week (02/12) will be Ned Lis-Clarke’s Presubmission talk! Please find the title and abstract below. As always, the seminar will be held in room 6.71 on the top floor of the RSSS from 3-4:30, and the zoom link can be found below the title and abstract.
Kind Regards,
Matt and Corey
The Australian Dream and its Discontents – the moral limits of markets and the commodification of housing
Housing affordability is a persistent and pressing public policy problem in Australia. Significant rises in house prices relative to wage growth imposes social and economic costs, undermines meritocratic and egalitarian ideals, and makes the ‘Australian Dream’ of home ownership increasingly unattainable for many. This talk examines the housing affordability crisis by drawing on the philosophical debates about the moral limits of markets and the ethics of commodification. I argue this is a useful and underappreciated conceptual lens which can help to understand the problem and identify general policy solutions. Drawing on the distinction between the use value and exchange value of housing, I argue that there is a deep structural incompatibility between these two conceptions of housing and that government policy should prioritise the former over the latter. I suggest a series of general policy directions that would reprioritise the use value of housing. These include a higher justificatory burden on policies that promote investment in housing, expanding the country’s social housing stock, and decoupling use value from home ownership.
Zoom Link:
https://anu.zoom.us/j/82325020132?pwd=EQ32lxjAj5RPh6CkpxedvgTDpjaycJ.1
Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting
Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise cloud communications.
Upcoming Philsoc:
02/12: Ned Lis-Clark - Presubmission
09/12: Jennifer Munt - open to all