RHJ presents at the ENHR2024 final plenary session entitled ‘Housing academia and activism: a necessary or impossible connection?’ in Delft

30 August 2024

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Plenary 6: Housing academia and activism: a necessary or impossible connection?

Moderator: Javier Arpa Fernández (Research and Education Coordinator, The Why Factory & TWF Foundation and Curator of Public Programs, Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, TU Delft)

Activism: the use of direct and public methods to try to bring about social and political changes that you and others want (Cambridge English dictionary).

Along the wide-spread housing crisis worldwide, recent years have seen the emergence of outspoken academics who combine academic research with activism. Frustrated with the elitist character of peer-reviewed publications and their limited capacity to effect real change, many researchers are increasingly engaging with social and mainstream media, writing blogs, giving interviews and publishing books for general audiences. However, some argue that it is not the role of academics to engage with political debates, and that ‘serious’ academics should stick to science. But what is the meaning of housing research as science in the context of housing policies that are shaped by public opinion and not necessarily by academic knowledge? Is there a place for activism in housing research? Is it at all possible for housing researchers to claim objectivity? This panel will explore these and other questions with a range of scholars who adopt different sides in this debate.

Panelists:
Cody Hochstenbach, Assistant professor, University of Amsterdam, and author of the award-winning and bestselling book “Uitgewoond”

Peter Boelhouwer, Professor Housing Systems, TU Delft

Melissa Fernandez Arrigoitia, Member of the Editorial Collective, Radical Housing Journal

Sabine Roeser, Professor of Ethics, TU Delft

Simone van Wieringen, Researcher at Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen, and involved in Scientists Rebellion