Social Housing Policies in Chile in a Context of Hybrid Neoliberalism

Abstract

In the framework of social policy paradigms, specifically within the framework of housing policies, the concept of hybrid neoliberalism is proposed to understand a new paradigm of social intervention. The hybrid approach in social intervention lies in the connection between elements of neoliberalism with proposals for investment and social promotion. The article argues that this hybridization, in the Chilean case, takes place in the enduring subsidiary system, the outsourcing of the intervention, the execution of projects that seek to be more relevant to cultural and territorial realities, and paradoxically, in the increasing prominence of the public system. The aim is to demonstrate through the qualitative analysis of four housing complexes, that the aforementioned elements can give grounds for Í€œexceptional casesÍ€ in social housing policy, with an increase in the quality of the housing supply that does not reach the requested standards of the entire served population. The paper concludes that public policy produces new gaps, which in this case, translate in a differentiated experience in the quality of the goods and services provided.