Michaela Pixová: Struggle for the Right to the City: Alternative Spaces in Post-Socialist Prague UNIVERZITA KARLOVA V PRAZE Přírodovědecká fakulta Katedra sociální geografie a regionálního rozvoje Michaela Pixová STRUGGLE FOR THE RIGHT TO THE CITY: ALTERNATIVE SPACES IN POST-SOCIALIST PRAGUE BOJ O PRÁVO NA MĚSTO: ALTERNATIVNÍ PROSTORY V POST-SOCIALISTICKÉ PRAZE Ph.D Thesis The Supervisor: Doc. RNDr. Luděk Sýkora, Ph.D. Prague 2012 Michaela Pixová: Struggle for the Right to the City: Alternative Spaces in Post-Socialist Prague Declaration I declare that this dissertation is my original work conducted under the supervision of Doc. RNDr. Luděk Sýkora, Ph.D. All sources used in the dissertation are indicated by special reference in the text and no part of the dissertation has been submitted for any other degree. Any views expressed in the dissertation are those of the author and in no way represent those of Charles University in Prague. The dissertation has not been presented to any other University for examination either in Czechia or overseas. In Prague, July 30, 2012 ……….…………………… Signature i Michaela Pixová: Struggle for the Right to the City: Alternative Spaces in Post-Socialist Prague Acknowledgement This dissertation could not have been carried out without the help and support of many people. To name all of them would require a long list, and therefore I would like to acknowledge in particular the ones whose help was indispensable to my research and for the production of this thesis. Most of my thanks go obviously to my supervisor, Luděk Sýkora, who not only provided my research with the much needed expertise, but also featured as an invaluable source of inspiration, encouragement and mental support. With regards to the scholarly content of my dissertation, a lot of valuable comments, hints and ideas originate from Clark University in the U.S., especially from my excellent adviser Mark Davidson, my dear colleague Oona Morrow, as well as from one of the greatest Marxist geographers, Richard Peet. Special thanks go also to Jody Emel, whose recommendations, as well as her personal library, were a great help in the early beginnings of writing my dissertation. A lot of support and help came also from my colleagues at Charles University in the Department of Social Geography and Regional Development, in particular from my colleague and friend Tereza Kušniráková, as well as my colleagues at the Center for Urban and Regional Research, especially Roman Matoušek, Tomáš Brabec, Petr Kučera and Jakob Hurrle. I owe my sincere acknowledgement to the people whom I interviewed for the purposes of my research. They were too many, and it wouldn‘t be fair to name only a few of them. However, my most special thanks go to a number of people from the Trafačka collective and from the Futura gallery. I am also very grateful for the assistance and trust of various members of Prague‘s anarchist and squatters‘ scene. I want to voice special thanks to my family and friends. The biggest thanks of all belong to my husband-to-be, Brad McGregor, who was a great support to me throughout the whole research. Since English is not my native language, Brad‘s help was invaluable for the language aspect of my dissertation; in that respect I am also very grateful to Brad‘s mum, Sherri Sauve, and again, Oona Morrow. My Ph.D. studies also would not have been possible without the support and inspiration that came from my parents; my mother Maria Štochlová, whose artistic talent has been the foundation of my interest in art, and my father Michal Pixa, whose involvement in the Czech and Czechoslovak alternative scene has hugely influenced me. For all kinds of reasons, I also want to say thank you to my colleagues from Praguewatch and Guma Guar, my artist and anarchist friends from Prague‘s alternative scene, my ii Michaela Pixová: Struggle for the Right to the City: Alternative Spaces in Post-Socialist Prague colleagues, co-workers and comrades engaging in Prague‘s activism and academia, and various other people who have been my sources of inspiration, reviewers, mentors and critics, as well as supporters. Last but not least, I want to express my thanks to all my close friends, who have always shared with me the same world that I have passion for. A very special acknowledgement is also dedicated to my doggie Mánička, who accompanied me throughout my fieldwork and has been a consistent source of joy since coming into my life. iii Michaela Pixová: Struggle for the Right to the City: Alternative Spaces in Post-Socialist Prague Abstract The dissertation focuses on spaces in post-socialist Prague which transcend the hegemony of capitalist social and spatial relations and provide alternative spaces for non-profit culture and grassroots activities used and operated by students, artistic and creative communities, alternative subcultures, and NGOs. The author presents 14 case studies focused on these spaces, whose existence in the city is threatened. Referring to Marxian urban theory and the concept of the right to the city, the author critically investigates the democratic character of the social structures which are based on the contemporary socioeconomic model, and interprets the way in which the imperative of capital-accumulation, combined with the legacies of the totalitarian past, constrain the development of open democracy and civil society, and the creation of diverse, vibrant, progressive, and socially inclusive urban environments. The empirical part of the dissertation outlines the process of creating and operating alternative spaces in Prague during a changing political-economic context, and describes in detail, alternative spaces that existed in Prague in the early 21st century. The author discusses these spaces in relation to two different regimes, which existed in Czech society before and after the Velvet Revolution in 1989. She evaluates these spaces in light of the way they differ from Western cities in regards to their relationship to urban development, gentrification and displacement; in connection with Prague‘s municipal politics and its official strategies; and from the perspective of their users‘ attitudes towards enforcing their right to the city. Based on a critical scrutiny of the situation of alternative spaces in Prague the author is concluding that through dogmatically embracing neoliberal capitalism Czech society has replaced the former totalitarian regime with a new ideology, which ingeniously eliminates and marginalizes spaces and activities that don‘t generate economic profit. This fact is presented as a sign that open democracy and a tolerant pluralist society have not yet been created in Czechia. According to the author, the alternative spaces have the potential to contribute to the improvement of the urban and social environment in Prague and in Czechia as a whole. Keywords: Prague, alternative spaces, alternative culture, art, urban society, creative city, post-socialist city, right to the city, Marxist geography, open democracy, neoliberal restructuring, economic crisis, gentrification, urban development, urban politics, civil society iv Michaela Pixová: Struggle for the Right to the City: Alternative Spaces in Post-Socialist Prague Abstrakt Disertační práce se zabývá prostory postsocialistické Prahy, jeţ se vymykají hegemonii kapitalistických sociálních a prostorových vztahů a poskytují alternativní prostory pro neziskové umění a aktivity zdola vyuţívané a provozované studenty, umělci a kreativními spolky, alternativními subkulturami či nevládními organizacemi. Autorka představuje 14 případových studií zabývajících se těmito prostory, jejichţ existence je ve městě ohroţena. S odkazem na marxistickou urbánní teorii a na koncept right to the city (právo na město) kriticky zkoumá sociální struktury zaloţené na současném socioekonomickém modelu z hlediska jejich demokratičnosti a interpretuje způsob, jímţ imperativ akumulace kapitálu kombinovaný s vlivy totalitární minulosti brání rozvoji otevřené demokracie a občanské společnosti, stejně jako vytvoření pestrého, ţivého, progresivního a sociálně inkluzivního městského prostředí. Empirická část disertační práce ukazuje hlavní rysy utváření a fungování alternativních prostor během měnícího se politickoekonomického kontextu a detailně popisuje alternativní prostory, které v Praze existovaly na počátku 21. století. Tyto prostory autorka diskutuje ve vztahu ke dvěma odlišným reţimům, které v české společnosti existovaly před a po Sametové revoluci z roku 1989. Hodnotí tyto prostory z hlediska jejich odlišnosti od západních měst vzhledem k jejich vztahu k městskému rozvoji, gentrifikaci a vysidlování původních obyvatel; ve vztahu k městské politice v Praze a jejím oficiálním strategiím; a prizmatem postoje uţivatelů prostor k prosazování svého práva na město. Na základě kritického přezkoumání situace praţských alternativních prostor autorka dochází k závěru, ţe dogmatické pojetí neoliberálního kapitalismu nahradilo v české společnosti minulý totalitní reţim novou ideologií, jeţ důmyslně eliminuje a marginalizuje prostory a činnosti, které negenerují ekonomický zisk. Tato skutečnost je představena jako příznak toho, ţe v Česku dosud nedošlo k vytvoření otevřené demokracie a tolerantní pluralitní městské společnosti. Podle autorky právě alternativní prostory mají potenciál přispět k zlepšení městského i společenského prostředí v Praze i v celém Česku. Klíčová slova: Praha, alternativní prostory, alternativní kultura, umění, městská společnost, kreativní město, post-socialistické město, právo na město,