This paper considers, with reference toAustralian private rental housing, how people come to think of themselves asproperty investors, and the implications of this ‘property investmentsubjectivity’ for sector practice and... [ view full abstract ]
This paper considers, with reference toAustralian private rental housing, how people come to think of themselves asproperty investors, and the implications of this ‘property investmentsubjectivity’ for sector practice and policy.
Through use of the conceptual frameworks ofgovernmentality and financialisation studies, property investment subjectivityis conceived of as a specific – and particularly rampant – subcategory of ‘investmentsubjectivity’ in the advanced liberal, financialised economy.
The paper considers the formation of thissubjectivity in popular and expert discourses of property, finance, investmentand wealth. Sources include property investment media; property information subscriptionservices; the books, newsletters and seminars of property experts; and a propertyinvestor online ‘community’.
The analysis of property investmentdiscourse is structured around ‘narratives’ and ‘strategies’ of property investment.Property investment discourse often takes a narrative form: in particular, thatof the ‘property investment journey’, invoking Campbell’s ‘monomyth’ of the‘hero’s journey’, which has been influential on popular culture and theself-help movement. Property investment discourse presents a range ofstrategies of investment, but underlying the apparent diversity is a commontheme of personal choice and circumstance, such that an individual comes toknow themselves through their strategy and their comprehension of data.
The paper shows how property investmentsubjectivity obtains purchase in contemporary subjectivity formation, conceptuallyblurs ‘investment’ with ‘consumption’ and risky speculation with security, andpresents challenges for the democratic redistribution of incomes andliabilities.
