The audacity of HOPE VI: Discourse and the dismantling of public housing

This paper is an examination of the “discourse of disaster” that has cleared the way for the dismantling of public housing in the US. It is argued that this narrative represents public housing communities as deviant, dysfunctional, or obsolete. In response, residents have generated a discourse of resistance that focuses on dimensions of home and community. The social science evidence that validates the residents’ storyline is summarized.

► A discourse of disaster dominates public housing in the US.
► The discourse has legitimated large scale demolition and redevelopment.
► Residents have created a discourse of resistance stressing “community” and “home”.
► A growing body of recent social science research validates residents’ discourse.