The Changing Role of the State in French Housing Policies: A Roll-Out Without Roll-Back?

The aim of this paper is to assess whether the conceptual distinction made byPeck and Tickell (2002), between a roll-back (dismantlement) of the welfare state and a roll-out (restyling) of State intervention is relevant when applied to French housing policies. Looking at the post-Second World War period, this paper shows how the role of the State changed, from a‘provider’to an‘enabler’. However, this process, started in France in the late 1960s, was slower and softer than that initiated in the USA and the UK a decade later under Reagan and Thatcher. The paper argues that France might be described as experiencing a roll-out of the State without a preliminary roll-back.