Guest researcher from England has visited IBF

Chris Allen writes about his stay at IBF:

"I came to the Institute in August this year to work on developing my ideas for a book, provisionally titled 'Situating Housing and Social Theory'. The purpose of the book is to provide an introductory guide to social theory and its applications in housing studies for students and researchers. The book will look at the origins of social theories that have been used by housing researchers, the context in which they have been introduced into housing research, the way in which they have been applied to the study of housing issues and their strengths and weaknesses in this respect. The book will also look at how new and emerging theoretical ideas, from disciplines such as sociology and social geography, can be imported into the study of housing in order to further develop our understanding of housing issues. As well as working on ideas for the book, I have also spent some time working with Professor Jim Kemeny on a paper about the need for theoretical clarity in studies about the provision of housing".

Chris Allen is a Principal Research Fellow at the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research at Sheffield Hallam University. He has been involved in housing research for nearly 10 years. His main research interests are in social disadvantage. Since 1997, he has published over 20 papers in peer-reviewed journals in the fields of housing studies, urban studies and sociology.