Private Government at Home: Landlord Power and Rental Residential Domination in the United States

Abstract

What if we think of landlords as petty tyrants? I argue that this specifically political question has been missing in analyses and diagnoses of the crisis in housing. Approaching the political conditions within landlord-tenant relations, I argue that rental housing is a sphere where people are subject to substantial unaccountable power in ways that drastically limit their autonomy, that is, domination. First, I develop a theoretical analysis through Elizabeth Anderson's concept of private government, extended by radical republican and feminist interventions. Then, drawing on interdisciplinary housing literatures, I build the case for understanding landlords’ dominative power at both structural and interpersonal levels. I look to institutional dynamics and landlord practices to unpack the details of private government in rental housing. I conclude with a critical discussion of current approaches to housing policy in terms of domination and a suggestion for an alternate strategy around the concept of countervailing power.