A Right to Housing: Foundation for a New Social Agenda

Front Cover
Rachel G. Bratt, Michael E. Stone, Chester W. Hartman
Temple University Press, 2006 - Business & Economics - 448 pages
In the 1949 Housing Act, Congress declared a decent home and a suitable living environment for every American family our national housing goal. Today, little more than half a century later, upwards of 100 million people in the United States live in housing that is physically inadequate, unsafe, overcrowded, or unaffordable.
The contributors to "A Right to Housing "consider the key issues related to America's housing crisis, including income inequality and insecurity, segregation and discrimination, the rights of the elderly, as well as legislative and judicial responses to homelessness. The book offers a detailed examination of how access to adequate housing is directly related to economic security.
With essays by leading activists and scholars, this book presents a powerful and compelling analysis of the persistent inability of the U.S. to meet many of its citizens' housing needs, and a comprehensive proposal for progressive change.
 

Contents

III
20
IV
38
V
61
VI
82
VII
101
VIII
135
IX
159
XI
167
XVI
257
XVII
275
XVIII
312
XIX
336
XX
356
XXI
359
XXII
362
XXIII
393

XII
173
XIII
189
XIV
209
XV
236

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Page 1 - People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made. In our day these economic truths have become accepted as selfevident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all — regardless of station, race, or creed.
Page 1 - The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation ; The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living; The right of every...
Page 1 - We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. "Necessitous men are not free men.
Page 10 - Areas surrounding a location are investigated to determine whether incompatible racial and social groups are present, for the purpose of making a prediction regarding the probability of the location being invaded by such groups. If a neighborhood is to retain stability, it is necessary that properties shall continue to be occupied by the same social and racial classes.
Page 1 - The right of every family to a decent home; The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health; The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment; The right to a good education. All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being.
Page 18 - ... this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being. America's own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for our citizens. For unless there is security here at home there cannot be lasting peace in the world.