Housing precariousness and power in the metropolis: a qualitative approach to the Barcelona metropolitan area
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.56247/qua.621Keywords:
Precarious housing, power, Barcelona, alienation, inequalityAbstract
This article analyses housing precariousness in the Barcelona metropolitan region by positioning power relations as the backbone of the phenomenon. Drawing on a gap in academic literature, which often conceptualizes housing precariousness as an essentialist phenomenon linked to the (private) rental market or risk factors, this research proposes that structural asymmetries between providers and residents are what define current phenomena. Addressing this conceptual problem, it explores the qualitative experiences of housing precariousness among 20 residents in Barcelona. The analysis examines the connection between these experiences and the power and alienation of the residents, including tenants in both the private and social markets, as well as mortgage-holding homeowners. The results show that power operates transversally across the main dimensions of housing precariousness previously explored in the literature, constituting its underlying structure. Tenants suffer from unilateral impositions and discriminatory practices by landlords, while mortgage holders experience dependence on financial institutions and vulnerability to interest rate volatility. Beyond formal conditions, power relations permeate everyday life, generating alienation, dependence, and the restriction of autonomy. The article concludes by proposing the need to integrate power as a cross-cutting dimension of housing precariousness, moving beyond perspectives based solely on tenure or purely risk-oriented approaches.
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