Learning from history: Path dependency and change in the social housing sectors of Austria, France, the Netherlands and Scotland, 1889-2013

The thesis presented in this chapter is that the history of European social housing can be interpreted through continuity (or path dependency) and change (crystallised in disruptive turning points or 'critical junctures') (Sewell 2005). The chapter argues that sociopolitical experiences and practices are powerful determinants of historical longue durée developments, constituting the path dependency of societal and institutional change. But while a particular 'tradition' or 'path' may be set in motion by these conditions, this does not prevent unexpected and rapid transformations - critical junctures - which can dramatically alter its path or disarticulate the different elements of the previous sequence. Some elements may be conserved while others are passed over or rejected, and in that sense the current situation is a result of both continuity and change. It is worth trying to disentangle the two.