ABSTRACT
The ‘Caldwell’ estate was made up of hundreds of homes, in looming tower blocks and in rundown terraces, the majority of which were once social housing – that is, housing owned by the local council and allocated to citizens on low income at low rents. Citing the age and deterioration of these buildings, however, over the past decade the council had spearheaded an ambitious ‘regeneration’ programme, replacing the old buildings with newer ones. The developers, would take over from the council in providing social rents – receiving public subsidy to help them do so – while they were free to retain the full income from the rental or sale of private units. This chapter offers an account of Jane’s shifting hopes and plans in the lead-up to, and aftermath of, her eviction. At the same time, it present this as an account of some of own ethnographic practice, dilemmas and ethical struggles, in miniature.
