Dr Stuart Hodkinson
Current Projects
New Enclosures: Finance Capital and the Privatisation of Housing Privatisation in Britain
(British Academy Postdoctoral Research Fellowship 2007-10)
My current research explores the extent to which the overaccumulation of finance capital has been driving the gradual privatisation of public housing and the regeneration of inner city working class estates in Britain. I am particularly interested in whether housing privatisation and urban regeneration can be theorized as both representing and driving an historic wave of ‘new enclosures’ sweeping Britain. My project revisits both the ‘old enclosures’ that accompanied the shift from feudalism to industrial capitalism, and the past 30 years of housing and urban policies to understand the connections and unpack the motivations, mechanisms and consequences of contemporary privatisation and regeneration policies. I am currently doing most of my fieldwork in Leeds, examining various housing-led regeneration schemes.
Who Runs Leeds
Until the credit crisis, Leeds was booming. The second largest metropolitan district in England had become the leading financial and law centre outside London and a retail heavyweight. At the heart of the city’s economic growth has been a huge regeneration programme. Almost £1.5bn was spent on major property construction between 1995-2004, with £1.2bn ongoing and £2.4bn proposed. But who is actually taking the big decisions in Leeds, and who benefits...and who doesn't?
Previous Projects
Autonomous Geographies
Two-year action research project with Dr Paul Chatterton (Leeds) and Dr Jenny Pickerill (Leicester) critically exploring and supporting the ideas, struggles and practices of autonomous social movements in the UK. Funded by the ESRC.