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Squatters in the Capitalist City. Housing, Justice and Urban Politics

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Squatters in the Capitalist City. Housing, Justice and Urban Politics 9781138856943PRE.3D 3 [1–16] 16.7.2019 2:56PM SQUATTERS IN THE CAPITALIST CITY Housing, Justice, and Urban Politics Miguel A. Martínez 9781138856943PRE.3D 4 [1–16] 16.7.2019 2:56PM First published 2020 by Routledge 52 Vanderbilt Avenue, New York, NY 10017 and by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2020 Taylor & Francis The right of Miguel A. Martínez to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data A catalog record for this title has been requested ISBN: 978-1-138-85694-3 (hbk) ISBN: 978-1-138-85695-0 (pbk) ISBN: 978-1-315-71902-3 (ebk) Typeset in Bembo by Swales & Willis, Exeter, Devon, UK 9781138856943PRE.3D 5 [1–16] 16.7.2019 2:56PM CONTENTS List of Tables viii List of Figures ix List of Images x Abbreviations xii Acknowledgments xiii Introduction 1 Squatting and Urban Justice 4 Contents and Arguments 10 1 Squatting as an Urban Movement 13 Structural Constraints and Social Conflict 13 Critical Social Science 16 Capitalism, Democracy, and Urban Movements 20 Practices, Movements, and Scales 22 Socio-Spatialities and Socio-Temporalities 25 Back to the Grassroots 29 Movement Effects Contextualised 32 The Contentious Social Production of Space 37 Squatters’ Movements 42 Squatting and the Right to the City 48 The Right to Squat the City 48 Legacies of Fruitful Associations 51 9781138856943PRE.3D 6 [1–16] 16.7.2019 2:56PM vi Contents Squatting Rights in Contention with the Existing Capitalist City 53 Social Justice in European Urban Politics 55 References 56 2 Autonomy from Capitalism 63 Converging Radicalisms 64 From the Factory to Metropolitan Struggles 67 Mobilisation and Liberation of Everyday Life 72 Diffused Autonomy and Interdependence 78 Collective Self-Determination of the Oppressed 83 Squatting and the Radical Left in Berlin 87 References 93 3 Socio-Spatial Structures 97 Housing Shortages and Vacancy Rates 100 Urban Renewal 106 Are Squatters the Storm Troopers of Gentrification? 109 Legislation and Law Enforcement 113 Activist Networks 118 Social Recognition 122 Amsterdam: The Lost Paradise of Squatting? 124 References 134 4 Types of Squatting 139 Squatted Houses and Social Centres 141 Motivations and Outcomes 148 Overlaps and Splits 152 Interactions between Squatters and Migrants 160 Beyond Deprivation 163 Autonomous Agency: When Migrants Squat 166 Squatters, Migrants, and the Global Justice Movement 168 Migrants’ Empowerment through the 15M Movement 171 Interactions and Contexts 173 Squatting in Paris: Internal Divisions and Local Regulation 177 References 185 5 Anomalous Institutions 190 The Movements’ Structural Dilemmas 191 Strategic Negotiations 194 High-Level Negotiations 194 Transactional Negotiations 196 9781138856943PRE.3D 7 [1–16] 16.7.2019 2:56PM Contents vii Survival Negotiations 197 Forced Negotiations 198 To Be or Not to Be Legalised 200 Institutionalisation 204 Type I Institutionalisation: Integration of the Movement into State Institutions 205 Type II Institutionalisation: New Institutions Promoted by Social Movements 209 Type III Institutionalisation: Creation of Anomalous Institutions 213 Legalisation of Squats in Madrid 218 Fully Legalised Squats 220 Failed Attempts at Legalisation 222 The Rejection of Legalisation 224 Analytical Remarks 226 References 230 6 Criminalisation and Counter-Hegemony 234 The Performative Powers of ‘Spectacular Narrations’ 234 Are Squatters All the Same? 237 Soft Gentrifiers 242 Are There Good and Bad Squatters? 246 Internal Cleavages 251 Discursive Struggles and Counter-Hegemonic Discourse 254 Reversive Responses 256 Subversive Alternatives 258 The Criminalisation of Squatting Invigorates Class Domination 262 References 266 Methodological Note 271 Index 275 9781138856943PRE.3D 13 [1–16] 16.7.2019 2:56PM ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Despite the hardships of writing individually, every research work is the result of many satisfactory collective efforts, insights, and cooperation. This book is no exception. However, I express my apologies for the impossibility of mentioning all the names of those who contributed in many ways. Pre-eminently, squatters, activists, and participants in the squatting milieus were the main inspiration for this research. Many of them instructed me, talked about their experiences and views, or showed me the squatted spaces. I truly appreciate their support as well as their struggle. A warm recognition also applies to all the SqEK (Squatting Everywhere Kollective) fellows who participated in our meetings over a decade—too many names, again, to single them out. These conferences made use of many resources from local squats, non-squatted social centres, after- squatted house projects, and universities. Once (in 2015) we also obtained a grant from the Antipode Foundation, which sponsored the expenses of many contributors. RC21 conferences and the seminars on the squatting history of Madrid (2008–2010) also gathered plenty of people who shared their know- ledge, questions, and political will to challenge social injustice. In addition, I would like to remember all the scholars who sparked my intellectual curiosity since my undergrad years and especially those devoted to the study of squatting, social movements, and urban issues in general, such as Tomás R. Villasante, Ramón Adell, Christopher G. Pickvance, and Margit Mayer. Some of them are quoted in the book, but the references included here are only a limited selection among a larger number of academics who helped me forge a critical gaze in order to understand social phenomena. The conclusion of this book has been possible due to the extraordinary positive working conditions and the great colleagues at the IBF (Institute for Housing and Urban Research), Uppsala University. In particular, I must highlight Dominika V. Polanska for all her outstanding support and intellectual collaboration even 9781138856943PRE.3D 14 [1–16] 16.7.2019 2:56PM xiv Acknowledgments before I moved to Sweden when she introduced me to squatting activism in Central and Eastern Europe, and organised several inspiring conferences I luckily attended. Among the extraordinary researchers I have met in Sweden, Irene Molina, Catharina Thörn, Håkan Thörn, Don Mitchell, Carina Listerborn, and Kristina Boréus have been some of the most inspiring and cooperative scholars. Moreover, friends and devoted activists such as Julia Lledín and Fernando Aro- zarena, first, and a post-doctoral researcher, Evin Deniz, helped me to complete my fieldwork in Spain when I lived abroad. During the final stage to produce this book (index, references, translations of notes from Spanish, selection of pictures, etc.), Alba Martínez Folgado, Luis Martínez Lorenzo, and Clarissa Cordeiro de Campos were vital aids too. Some conversations with Don Mitchell and his comments added to the final polishing of some parts of the manuscript. Not the least, my editors at Routledge became a kind source of patience and confidence in this project since the proposal was approved some years ago. Previous versions of the present chapters or parts of them have been pub- lished in the following journals and books: 2013. The Squatters’ Movement in Europe: A Durable Struggle for Social Autonomy in Urban Politics. Antipode. A Radical Journal of Geography 45(4): 866–887. 2014. How Do Squatters Deal with the State? Legalization and Anomalous Insti- tutionalization in Madrid. International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 38(2): 646–674. 2014. Squatting for justice, bringing life to the city. ROAR Magazine. 2017. Squatters and Migrants in Madrid: Interactions, Contexts and Cycles. Urban Studies 54(11): 2472–2489. 2018. Urban emptiness, ghost owners and squatters’ challenges to private prop- erty. In Hojer, Maja et al. (Eds) Contested Property Claims. What Disagreement Tells Us About Ownership. Abingdon: Routledge, 74–91. 2019. Good and bad squatters? Challenging hegemonic narratives and advancing anti-capitalist views of squatting in Western European cities. Culture Unbound 11(1): 165–189. 2019. The autonomy of struggles and the self-management of squats: Legacies of intertwined movements. Interface: a journal for and about social movements (forthcoming). 2019. European squatters’ movements and the right to the city. In Flesher, Cristina & Ramón Feenstra (Eds) Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Euro- pean Social Movements (forthcoming). I am grateful to the above-mentioned journals and book publishers for their per- mission to reproduce large parts of the articles, albeit they have been updated and refurbished when needed. Journal and book editors, and anonymous reviewers who commented on the original papers equally deserve attribution for 9781138856943PRE.3D 15 [1–16] 16.7.2019 2:56PM Acknowledgments xv contributing to the enhancement of my arguments. As a non-native English speaker, assistance with language issues has always been essential to improve my manuscripts.
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