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URBAN SQUATTING: II an Adaptive Response to the Housing II Crisis I • I Rimma Ashkinadze I Submitted for Honors in Sociology Oberlin College

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URBAN SQUATTING: II an Adaptive Response to the Housing II Crisis I • I Rimma Ashkinadze I Submitted for Honors in Sociology Oberlin College I II I URBAN SQUATTING: II An Adaptive Response to the Housing II Crisis I • I Rimma Ashkinadze I submitted for honors in Sociology Oberlin College .. 26 April 1996 • •.. II.. .. II II I [I I would like to thank Daphne John, my esteemed professor, advisor, and friend I - without her support, I would never have the courage and patience to finish this; """ Professor Norris, my second reader and knowledgeable resource person; the honors cohort - Rachel Laibson, Molly Moloney, Avril Smith, and Stacy Tolchin; I0,?'~ my wonderful, supportive friends - especially Gillian Schmidt and Becky I Wolfinger. I '",,' I,<A I I I I I I II II I "I'" 2 ,'" ,;; INTRODUCTION 5 What is squatting? 5 Why am I interested in squatting? 6 Methodology 9 I What is my goal in doing this research? 11 I THEORIES 12 Housing as a Need 12 The Meaning of Home 12 .11 Homelessness 16 Connection Between Homelessness and Squatting 26 II Autonomy and Control in Housing 27 Structural Capitalist Economic and Social Changes 36 [I Economic Changes 38 co' ~ Conflicts within Capitalism 40 Changes in cities 42 Inner cities and the Urban Frontier 48 II Disinvestment and Reinvestment 53 Possible solutions 56 <~ Merton's Strain Theory and the Theory of Adaptation 58 II«" Definition 58 Adaptations of Strain Theory for Housing 61 How Squatting Fits into the Theory of Adaptation 63 Oversights of Strain Theory 65 Social Movement Theory 67 Theoretical Approaches to Social Movements 69 Networks vs. Organizations 76 , Recruitment 78 II Participation 81 Activism 82 II What kind of social movement is urban squatting? 83 I Housing/Protest movement 86 Self-help/autonomy movement 87 II,""'\: Search for intentional communities 89 Single people's movement 91 II REAL LIFE 94 Who are squatters? 94 3 I Demographics 95 IIPf'" Divisions among squatters 99 What are the different reasons for squatting? 101 II Economic necessity 102 Chosen way of life 104 Empowerment 106 I Goals 107 Squatting and the State 109 111 II,< Legal Action Violence 114 Squatting in Western Europe 117 II Amsterdam 117 London 121 Berlin 123 I Copenhagen 127 Squatting in the US 128 II History: settlers and pioneers 129 N. Recent housing policies 131 Philadelphia: Innovation 132 •<",~~, ACORN 133 Organization 133 Philadelphia Model 135 I New York: Rebellion 137 Homesteading/squatting history 137 Lower East Side 141 II Gentrification 142 " .•.. Squatting on the Lower East Side 143 .• Ethnic residents 144 ,C,"," Radical squats 145 '." CONCLUSION 151 I">~' II APPENDIX 155 Shawnee Alexandri 155 ' PENAL LEXICON HOME PAGE 173 III/,' ',; ADVERSE POSSESSION 177 III Leah iii 184 II SOURCES 191 II 4 ·.··.4.•••• 111,,', b< III II.•.·· INTRODUCTION W? 'I'~" What is squatting? A':/( Urban squatting is the unauthorized occupation of empty buildings. IIifiiz/ Squatting is usually thought to be a Third World phenomenon associated with II urbanization, poverty, and rural-urban migration. However, there is a history of squatting in the US and Europe as well. Squatting has been reported in New II York, San Francisco, Newark, Boston, Philadelphia, Detroit, and Los Angeles. >,·· Since World War II and particularly in the last thirty years, urban squatting has I,--,:-<,- " received much attention in Europe. The major European centers for squatting I;;'-," have been London, Amsterdam, and Berlin.' In Britain, the squatting of I":<', " buildings scheduled for renovation or demolition became an organized and ' public movement. In the United States, squatting is a criminal offense and has I;t~ not been widely publicized (Welch:1992, Adams:1986). •.•.' ••• " _ Af" Squatting has a dual purpose. It can provide immediate shelter while '.«... being a political tactic to draw attention to neighborhood neglect, the lack of ~7"'1 II available and affordable. low-cost housing, the dwindling stock of housing, ,·· and homelessness. This direct-action technique serves to empower its participants who are usually people disempowered through their participation II,\", III in the housing system. Squatting has a long history in the United States. It was a common form 'II'.'"'' Z'C-' , of tenure during the pioneer and settler days of this country. The '· II'-" ~- 1 Although West Berlin had a larger squatter scene, squatting occurred in East Berlin as well. Currently there is squatting throughout the city, but most especially in former East III II 5 homesteading acts of the nineteenth century institutionalized it. Since then we have had different terms for the same actions. Whereas homesteading is a legal and institutionalized means of taking over and rehabilitating an abandoned building, squatting is not. Squatting is most common during periods of economic recession or depression. During the Great Depression, many squats or shantytowns appeared in towns all over the country. These "Hoovervilles" protested the lack of government response to the financial crisis. Additionally, they were organized and focused on mutual aid (Welch:1992). In recent European history, particularly in Britain, there have been several waves of squatting. The initial one, in Britain, was in 1945. The focus ""'" was on self-help in housing. The squatters did not have strong bonds to each ,<"-,, • other, but all had high post war expectations (Franklin:1984). It was publicly ~F',0 well-receiveil because many soldiers returning home after the war could not ".""" '1"" find homes of their own. In 1968, squatting reemerged in Britain as a direct !«>• response to increasing homelessness and the large number of vacant II buildings (Kinghan: 1977). II Why am I interested in squatting? II "'" My first experiences with squatting were in two very different locations. <i>'"II III Initially, I saw squatting in San Francisco. In the summer of 1994, the City of Berlin because, despite the major rebuilding effort, there are many decrepit and III abandoned buildings in those areas. II 6 IB lJI:-- San Francisco was in the process of implementing an inflexible program to IItf/<" reduce crime, vagrancy, and loitering in the city; it was called the Matrix ,<II program. A law banning all loitering within thirty feet of an automated teller II cash machine (ATM) was implemented. Street people were harassed. Many local businesses hired off duty police ("specials") to patrol certain II"" neighborhoods and "scare off' street people. The "crack down" on crime II extended to the three strikes legislation. Under this law, any individual who had been convicted of three felonies could be subject to life imprisonment. ItBBC "'i Despite this conservative backlash, there was a small squatting scene 1I//r' in San Francisco. Closely affiliated with the Tenants Union and Food Not II Bombs, an organization devoted to providing two free meals daily to homeless "'" and poor individuals, most organized squatting occurred under the auspices of IIFC"'" Homes Not Jails. These activists tried to find suitable housing for anyone who '" needed it and wanted to squat. They went on weekly expeditions around the IIf" 'lI"'h city to look for abandoned buildings. Their goal was to open a new squat each :2;« week. Additionally, they would try to publicly take over a building monthly. I ',III witnessed the takeover of an abandoned federally owned building and its immediate eviction. IINt' c, The Polk St. squat had been taken over the summer of 1993. Prior to II,.'': that it had been abandoned after the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) ',",ll had seized it; it had been a "crack house". The building had been occupied 1I-s'-' by squatters for over a month and the DEA was willing to negotiate with the ,III - city. The DEA offered to give the house to the city for squatters to maintain and 0:··· 1*,<-,' ";", 7 IIr/"'" • rehabilitate. Unfortunately, the city refused the offer. The housing takeover I • saw was the same abandoned building one year later. Three people • occupied it in the early moming and five people were arrested that afternoon. I • witnessed several fire trucks and nine police cars rush to the scene. It took all I those "peace officers", law enforcement officials, several hours to break into the building. Meanwhile, we, the supporters and by-passers on the streets • were harassed by the police officers. II Immediately after I left San Francisco, I moved to Amsterdam. Upon arrival, I was ignorant of Amsterdam's history of squatting. However, it was not II long before I discovered it for myself. When wandering through the streets in ..••• the center of the city, I often noticed brightly colored banners and signs in the •• windows. I even went to the squatters' museum and on a tour of squats • through the city. In Amsterdam, squatting has been common for the last I several decades. It Is possible to go to bars, cafes, clubs, galleries, III restaurants, and theaters run by squatters. Amsterdam's housing shortage is a relic from World War II. The City has not been able to completely rebuild. II The Netherlands is a socialist country; its socialized housing system III entitles all people to affordable subsidized housing. Nonetheless, there is a homeless and squatter population there. Because of the long and complicated waiting lists for housing, it is often difficult for young people, "II students, and people just moving to the city to obtain housing. This is the II population most likely to squat in Amsterdam and under similar socialized ·· housing systems. II, . II 8 '.'.> I.",0,- Four days after I visited the Kraaken Musee, the squatters' museum, it III~",/", was evicted by the police. Although, many squats have become legalized in II\iz>::" Amsterdam, others are still evicted regularly. It was not an uncommon sight to [I /i'" see a street blockaded and the police attempting to physically evict a squat by II accessing the roof and trying to go in through the windows of the building. Evictions in Amsterdam were not similar to the ones I saw in San II Francisco.
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