Rescaling absenteeism: mapping the multi-scalar and relational geographies of absentee housing ownership in Atlanta

Abstract

Absentee housing ownership is a crucial but underappreciated element of contemporary inequality. Most often, absenteeism is treated as a secondary or subsidiary process to other manifestations of housing injustice, and even where it is examined it is usually conceptualized as a binary. However, like essentially all geographical processes, absenteeism is best conceived of in more relational and flexible terms that take account of the variety of forms in which it might manifest, including absentee ownership within the same city or metro area. This article seeks to promote such a perspective by developing a framework for the multi-scalar and relational analysis of the geographies of absentee housing ownership. Using a case study of Atlanta, Georgia, our empirical analysis demonstrates that the geographies of absentee ownership tend to follow a bifurcated pattern, where predominantly poorer and Blacker neighborhoods are more likely to be owned by absentee owners nearer by. However, high levels of absentee ownership, albeit of a very different character, are also present in wealthier and whiter communities, with more of the properties in these areas being owned at much greater distances. Ultimately, this article argues for greater attention to absentee housing ownership across a range of contexts in order to understand its multiple geographic manifestations.