Liveability – the capacity to thrive by enjoying positive freedom – should be the outcome of foundational provisioning. This research stream focuses on the demand side of foundational provisioning looking at the what we call the “3 pillars of liveability” that is the key institutions and arrangements that enable liveability of households: 1) residual income after paying for on-market basics like housing, utilities, food and transport; 2) universal basic services like health, education and public transport 3) and the social infrastructure of parks, public spaces and community organisations which we enjoy every day.
The crumbling of all three pillars of liveability in high-income countries is producing precarisation for acutely deprived low-income households and, increasingly, also for middle-income households who have fallen below expectations. Mainstream politics is unable to address the current crisis of household liveability partly because it is fixed on the quixotic task of restoring economic growth. Meanwhile, the precarisation of fallen below households feeds insurgent politics with destabilizing and uncertain consequences.
How to improve liveability in this mess? Discover more via the reference list below.
To join the conversation: julie.froud@manchester.ac.uk
Readings:
- Bassens, D., Froud, J., Johal, S. and Williams, K. (2025) ‘Geography, the foundational economy, and the fallen-below’, Dialogues in Human Geography. https://doi.org/10.1177/20438206251388515.
- Calafati, L., Froud, J., Haslam, C., Johal, S. and Williams, K. (2025) Murky Water. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
- Calafati, L., Froud, J., Haslam, C., Johal, S. and Williams, K. (2023) When Nothing Works. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
- Foundational Economy Research (2025) Grey Skies Thinking. Available at: https://foundationaleconomyresearch.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Notes-on-FE-as-grey-skies-thinking-17-Dec-2025.pdf
The Foundational Economy 