Intersectionalizing Housing Discrimination Under Rentier Capitalism in an Asset-Based Society

Abstract

ABSTRACT Rental discrimination is a key factor in the reproduction of socio-economic inequality under emergent rentier capitalism within the asset society. Our research into the effects of discrimination in the Australian private rental sector shows how factors including age, race, gender and socio-economic status intersect to shape experiences of discrimination. A compounding and exponential discriminatory burden – financial, psychological, and physical – confronts those experiencing discrimination based on more than one factor. Yet, to date, policy aimed at improving housing experiences has largely been ad hoc and carried out in policy siloes. We argue for an intersectionalized approach to housing research, planning and policy, highlighting the conceptual value of intersectionality for responding to structural disadvantage and lived experiences of discrimination amid rentier and asset logics.