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'Engineers of the Human Machine': The Social Practice of Council Housing Management in Glasgow, 1895-1939

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  • Seán Damer

    (Department of Sociology, Adam Smith Building, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8RT, UK, sdamer@soc.sci.gla.ac.uk)

Abstract

In a 1997 paper in Urban Studies, Clapham argued that Housing Studies could benefit from an injection of social constructionist research, as previous housing research had been driven by policy-makers. This paper rebuts this argument, demonstrating that such research has been carried out by sociologists of housing in Britain for some 30 years. The paper continues with a detailed example of such research, offering a case study of the housing management of the interwar (1924) Glasgow housing scheme of Hamiltonhill. Marrying constructionist and materialist theoretical perspectives, and drawing upon a wealth of empirical data, the paper demonstrates that the social practice of council housing management in interwar Glasgow was blatantly aimed at the social control of public-sector tenants, and that this social control was firmly located in contemporary class relationships and class ideology. The paper concludes that such a perspective has considerable potential for the analysis of current housing management practice.

Suggested Citation

  • Seán Damer, 2000. "'Engineers of the Human Machine': The Social Practice of Council Housing Management in Glasgow, 1895-1939," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 37(11), pages 2007-2026, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:37:y:2000:i:11:p:2007-2026
    DOI: 10.1080/713707224
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