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Life, liberty, and a house in the suburbs: The political construction of the homeownership model of happiness in the United States
[Vie, liberté et pavillon : la recherche du bonheur par la propriété immobilière, une construction politique américaine]

Author

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  • Bradley T. Smith

    (UPN - Université Paris Nanterre, CREA (EA 370) - Centre de Recherches Anglophones - UPN - Université Paris Nanterre, UPN LCE - Université Paris Nanterre - UFR Langues et cultures étrangères - UPN - Université Paris Nanterre)

Abstract

This paper presents a brief history of the use of happiness and wellbeing rhetoric to bolster political support for the expansion of homeownership in the United States. Recent research has studied the impact of homeownership on various dimensions of wellbeing, such as crime, education, health, and civic participation. However, less attention has been given to the way in which policymakers have historically defined the pursuit of happiness as a gateway to a virtuous way of life thanks to homeownership. After exploring the relations between the right to pursue happiness and the right to own property in the American founding documents, the paper studies the happiness discourse that accompanied the rise of the suburban model of homeownership in the 20th century, followed by that which accompanied the policy shifts implemented in the late 20th century to conserve this model.

Suggested Citation

  • Bradley T. Smith, 2019. "Life, liberty, and a house in the suburbs: The political construction of the homeownership model of happiness in the United States [Vie, liberté et pavillon : la recherche du bonheur par la propriété immobilière, une construction politique américa," Post-Print hal-04145164, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04145164
    DOI: 10.4000/interventionseconomiques.6499
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.parisnanterre.fr/hal-04145164v1
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    References listed on IDEAS

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