Navigating the Blurred Racialised Space of Social Housing: Insights From Muslim Communities and Local Authority Staff in Ireland

Racial inequalities, although at times covert and subtle, are among the most persistent discriminatory factors shaping the social domain of housing. Ireland's housing crisis has contributed to the reproduction of such inequalities affecting racialised communities. This paper draws on extensive qualitative research with Irish local authority staff (n=69) and with members of Ireland's Muslim communities (n = 193) to explore their perspectives and lived experiences in the context of accessing accommodation. Using blurred boundaries (Alba, 2005) and racialised space (Hopkins 2016; Itaoui 2016; Najib 2021) as our conceptual frameworks, we investigate experiences and perspectives of discrimination in/accessing social housing among Muslim communities and local authority staff. We argue that, on the one hand local authorities follow strategies that, although well intended, in a context where a race-evasive approach is institutionally pervasive, contribute to housing practices which create segregated communities. On the other hand, Muslim communities faced with such strategies and practices, whether intended or not, experience hostility/discrimination in/accessing social housing.