Valerie Ann Karn

Bio: Valerie Ann Karn is an academic researcher from University of Birmingham. The author has contributed to research in topics: Public housing & Public policy. The author has an hindex of 9, co-authored 12 publications receiving 345 citations.

Race, Class and the Allocation of Public Housing in Britain:

Abstract: This article uses data from surveys of public housing applicants and tenants and from an ethnographic study of the procedures of a major British housing authority to explain the reasons for raciall...

Employment, education and housing among the ethnic minority populations of Britain

Abstract: Introduction - using the 1991 census to study ethnicity higher education qualifications ethnic differences in the educational participation of 16-19 year-olds labour force participation rates, self-employment and unemployment patterns of ethnic minority employment int he context of industrial and occupational growth and decline education and occupational attainments - the impact of ethnic origins monitoring equal employment opportunity "race", ethnicity and housing differentials in Britain regional and local differences in the housing tenure of ethnic minorities the housing position of ethnic minority group home owners finding a place - the impact of locality on the housing experience of tenants from minority ethnic groups adding an ethnic dimension to local housing need assessments - the use of the 1991 census of population ethnic differences in attainment in education, occupation and lifestyle "ethnic penalties" and racial discrimination in education, employment and housing - conclusions and policy implications.

Homeownership and neighborhood stability

Abstract: A major objective of many neighborhood revitalization programs is to increase homeownership. Conventional wisdom holds that this is one of the best ways to stabilize areas in decline. This article questions convention by presenting a conceptual model of how homeownership rates might affect various indicators of neighborhood stability and by determining whether there is support for this model in the literature. The article also presents an original analysis of the relationship between homeownership rates and two measures of neighborhood stability. The literature review finds considerable support for an association between homeownership and both improved property maintenance and longer lengths of tenure. The analysis of census data similarly indicates less residential mobility and greater property value appreciation in areas with greater home‐ownership. Although initial values and citywide value changes appear to have much stronger effects on changes in property values than the tract home‐ownership...

Parallel Lives? Challenging Discourses of British Muslim Self-Segregation

Abstract: The urban disturbances in Bradford, Oldham, and Burnley in 2001 served to underline the contested meanings of black and minority ethnic residential segregation in Britain. Official reports into the disturbances highlighted the depth of ethnic divisions in these northern cities, where, it was contended, British Asian and white people are living “a series of parallel lives”. Central to this assertion is the claim that people of South Asian origin, particularly British Muslims, are failing to be active citizens by withdrawing from interactions with wider British society. This paper examines the discourses surrounding charges of British Muslim isolationism and self-segregation, which have been closely linked to the persistence of inner-city ethnic clustering. The arguments draw on in-depth research with people of Pakistani/Kashmiri and Bangladeshi origin in Bradford and connect to debates about Britishness, whiteness. and the Western portrayal of British Muslims as Other. The findings give voice to British Mu...

Homeownership and housing satisfaction

Abstract: Homeownership is encouraged by many governments because it is supposed to have a positive effect on both the individual and society as a whole. Homeownership is assumed to be preferred over renting, because it provides greater security, more freedom, financial advantage and therefore higher housing satisfaction. This theory has been developed and mainly tested in English-speaking countries. A number of researchers, most notably from continental Europe, have criticized the perceived superiority of homeownership and the effects that are ascribed to it by these theories. They state that, wherever there is a well-developed rental sector, renting represents an adequate and acceptable alternative to homeownership. It can also be questioned whether the theory can be confirmed for Southern Europe, where homeownership seems to be part of a family tradition and not a choice. This paper uses the European Community Household Panel to test if homeowners are more satisfied with their housing situation than tenants. The results indicate that homeowners in seven out of eight countries are more satisfied with their housing situation than tenants. Only in Austria do homeowners and tenants display a similar level of housing satisfaction.

Centring Housing in Political Economy

Abstract: The issue of “housing” has generally not been granted an important role in post-war political economy. Housing-as-policy has been the preserve of social policy analysis and of a growing field of housing studies; housing-as-market has been confined to mainstream economics. This paper insists that political-economic analysis can no longer remain relatively indifferent to the housing question since housing is implicated in the contemporary capitalist political economy in numerous critical, connected and very often contradictory ways. The paper conceptualizes this implication by identifying the multiple roles of housing when “capital” – the essential “stuff” of political economy – is considered from the perspective of each of its three primary, mutually constitutive guises: as process of circulation, as social relation and as ideology. Mobilizing these three optics to provide a critical overall picture of housing-in-political-economy (more than a political economy of housing), we draw on and weave tog...

Tourism and international retirement migration: New forms of an old relationship in southern Europe

Abstract: This paper examines the relationship between retirement migration and tourism in terms of the changing nexus of social relationships that are implicit in international mobility. Three main themes are investigated using data from field studies of British retired persons living in Tuscany, Malta, the Costa del Sol and the Algarve. First, the role of tourism in defining the search spaces of international retirement migrants is explored: insights are provided by the retirement strategies of the migrants, their prior connections with the destinations, and second home ownership. Second, amenity-led retirement migration encompasses complex issues of identity, consumption and peripatetic life styles. These are examined from the perspective of emergence of new forms of amenity-seeking retired life styles which traverse international boundaries. Third, retirement migrants become both potential participants in and recipients of 'visiting friends and relatives' (VFR) tourism. The scale of such tourism flows and their...