Housing Ideas. The Emergence of Neoliberal Housing Policy in the Netherlands (1989-2000)

Abstract

This thesis argues that Dutch housing policy moved in a neoliberal direction over the course of the 1980s and the 1990s, contrary to earlier historiography. It adds to the existing literature on Dutch public housing by developing and applying a definition of neoliberal housing policy that has more analytical and historical depth than has previously been achieved. This definition is based on the writings of Friedrich A. von Hayek and Milton Friedman, two of the most influential thinkers among the politically engaged group that called itself the ‘neoliberal movement’ from the 1930s up until the late 1950s. Subsequently, Dutch housing policy is reviewed by means of the analytical framework on ‘policy paradigms’ that has been developed by the British political scientist, Peter A. Hall. On this basis, it can be concluded that towards the end of the 1990s both the goals and the instruments of Dutch housing policy had changed in a neoliberal direction, even though some traditional features of the Dutch public housing system remained by and large intact.