The Fiction of Property

Speculative property regimes reproduce urban inequality by transforming housing into a vehicle for wealth accumulation while deepening scarcity and displacement. Through contrasting stories of luxury vacancy and tenant organizing in Los Angeles, property emerges as a social fiction that legitimizes rent extraction, challenging conventional understandings of ownership, value, and the right to housing.

Authors

Publication Details

Journal
Current History
Published
2026-10-14
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1525/curh.2026.125.875.28
Primary Topic
Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

The Fiction of Property

Ananya Roy
Current History
Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism
article

The Fiction of Property

Ananya Roy
article en

Abstract

Speculative property regimes reproduce urban inequality by transforming housing into a vehicle for wealth accumulation while deepening scarcity and displacement. Through contrasting stories of luxury vacancy and tenant organizing in Los Angeles, property emerges as a social fiction that legitimizes rent extraction, challenging conventional understandings of ownership, value, and the right to housing.

Current HistoryVol. 125(875)
Sustainable cities and communities, Reduced inequalities
Openalex Percentile: Top 9%
Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism
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