Housing Regeneration and the Private Finance Initiative in England: Unstitching the Neoliberal Urban Straitjacket Stuart Hodkinson School of Geography, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK; s.n.hodkinson@leeds.ac.uk Abstract: This paper responds to recent debates in human geography about ideal-type versus contingent neoliberalism, or what Gibson-Graham conceptualises as “strong” vs “weak” theory, by offering some reflections from an in-depth study of the private finance initiative (PFI) in England. It first introduces the history and purpose of the PFI as the Labour government’s flagship public–private partnership (PPP) approach to public infrastructure modernisation. It then critically analyses its use in inner-city regeneration through a case study of a PFI housing scheme in the northern English city of Leeds. The paper argues that, when seen through the lens of “strong theory”, a PFI appears to be a consciously designed “neoliberal straitjacket” intended to lock-in gentrification-based regeneration at the neighbourhood level, guarantee long-term profits to (finance) capital, and create powerful privatising and marketising pressures across the local public sphere. However, it is equally possible to construct a preliminary “weak theory” of the PFI that unhides its inherent contradictions and shows how everyday activism by local community actors can successfully influence and contest how neoliberalism is rolled out on the ground. Keywords: housing privatisation, private finance initiative, regeneration, resistance Introduction: Neoliberal Strong Theory in Question? Prior to the global financial crisis that erupted in 2008, neoliberalism was undoubtedly the driving ideational force behind capitalist globalisation. This is reflected in more than two decades of academic scholarship unpacking its nature and dynamics (see Brenner, Peck and Theodore 2010; Saad-Filho and Johnston 2005). Following Ward and England (2007), this broad body of “neoliberal studies” comprises four different but overlapping definitions of neoliberalism. The first is an ideological hegemonic project, selectively rooted in the free market and non-interventionist state philosophy of classical liberalism, and internationally propagated by think tanks and intellectuals like Hayek and Friedman in their assault on “egalitarian liberalism” (Peck and Tickell 2007). Put simply, this project seeks the exit of government Antipode Vol. 43 No. 2 2011 ISSN 0066-4812, pp 358–383 doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8330.2010.00819.x C  2010 The Author Journal compilation C  2010 Editorial Board of Antipode.