Landlordism
Uploaded by shardman on May 21, 2004
Introduction To Social Research
Assignment 1
By Aaron Collins
Discuss the view that structured interviews would best elicit an indication of general attitudes towards the behaviour of landlords providing student accommodation in Leeds .
The theory I felt that would best associated with this question was the theory of Landlordism. Landlordism is the form of privilege or interference with the free market in which one state supported group ‘owns’ the land and thereby takes tribute (rent) from those who live, work, or produce on the land.
Landlordism is often associated with capitalism. Similar to those capitalists that may own a factory and earn money through their labourers , a landlord will make money through his or hers tenants. Anti capitalists are usually against the idea of landlordism also.
Alfred Wallace is a sociologist who wrote a book called ‘Land Nationalisation’. His theory on Landlordism is one of negative attitudes. His basic description of the idea of Landlordism is as follows:
“The great landlord is necessarily a monopolist and a despot. The land is his own to be dealt with as he pleases; and the greater the income he can derive from it, the greater share he can secure to himself of the produce of others’ labour upon it, the more respect and admiration he usually receives. In every step he takes to secure this end he is supported by the power and majesty of the law. His tenants have no rights on the soil buts such as he allows them. Whatever added value their labour has given to the land, in the absence of special agreement becomes his and not theirs. If they offend him in any way, if they refuse to act against their political convictions, if they are too demonstrative in their claims for religious equality, he may , and not infrequently does, eject them from the house in which they and their fathers were born, and from the land which they have industriously tilled for generations, more for his benefit than for their own.”
Wallace talks a lot about conflicting interests between tenants and landlords which somewhere down the line could cause problems. When these problems occur the landlord usually exerts his power and therefore evicts the tenants and will be relatively better off then the tenants in the long run. Who is to blame for the conflict...