Can the Finnish Way to Reduce Homelessness Work in Canada? The Limits of Power Resource Approaches in a Time of Economic Crisis

Abstract

Widespread homelessness is at crisis levels amongst advanced capitalist nations, indicating that the promise of neoliberal prosperity is deeply flawed. While Canada’s Liberal tradition is ineffective in combatting homelessness, Finland, a Social Democratic tradition, has successfully decreased its homeless population. This research paper evaluates the possibility of policy adoption between liberal and social democratic traditions to reduce homelessness by employing a political-economy-informed, comparative welfare state analysis. I argue that we must proceed with caution as policies do not always travel well because of the varying political and economic contexts arising from the histories of class struggle. I also argue that policies to solve homelessness are relatively limited because of the crisis-prone and contradictory nature of capitalism and the subsequent welfare state. My findings suggest that Finland’s robust working-class power resources, expressed in parliamentary and extra-parliamentary power, have been vital in homelessness reduction policy development but will inevitably meet their limits.