ABSTRACT
This chapter considers how to account for the tension and conflict that persists in situations in which individuals and groups appear to have shared aims and objectives, and who, all too often, are required to work in partnership, or in some form of alliance in order to further a shared objective. It demonstrates that the material conditions and symbolic determinations that structure the field of housing, are themselves lodged at the very heart of professional practice in housing. The chapter shows that the concept of the parallax gap when there are different viewpoints, the shared object is seen differently in each case, depending on the perspective of the ‘observer’. It outlines the innovative approach to understanding professional practice, through an examination of the parallax gaps that open up within the struggles between groups over the legitimate right to not only define ‘social problems’ but to say what should be done about them.
