From housing crisis to housing justice: Towards a radical right to a home

Abstract

Amidst a protracted housing crisis that has affected major cities in Europe and beyond, vibrant social movements for housing justice are trying to challenge the notion that housing is a commodity, with transformative demands framing housing as a fundamental human right. This paper explores the ways housing movements in Dublin use direct and confrontational approaches as political action. Previous literature has examined the emergence of new housing movements as a direct consequence of the economic and social challenges that arose as a result of the economic downturn and neoliberal austerity policies. However, there is, as yet, little that addresses the ways autonomous housing groups engage in non-violent direct action and the challenges they face in trying not just to promote a radical change of policy but also in carrying out practical prefigurative action. As such, the findings in this study provide insights into how emerging direct-action-oriented housing groups fight for housing justice.

Why so moderate? Understanding millennials’ views on the urban housing affordability crisis in the post-socialist context of the Czech Republic

“…Young people in some Western countries have organised to put these proposals into practice. Lima ( 2021 ), for example, describes how civil society groups and social movements have emerged in Ireland, Spain, and the United States with the aim of preventing the further financialisation of housing, and she especially notes the pressure activities (including illegally occupying houses) that have been engaged in by movements such as Take Back the City (TBTC) and the Irish Housing Network (IHN) in Ireland. There are a few studies (examples being Hoolachan et al, 2017 ; Druta & Ronald, 2018 ; Hoolachan & McKee, 2019 ; Forrest & Xian, 2018 ) that explore how young people themselves feel about and interpret the tension that exists between the standard (expected) housing career, in which they should become homeowners, and their decreasing chances of pursuing this career, but none of them were conducted in post-socialist countries, where this tension is the strongest because of the very high homeownership rate.…”

“…There is also an increasing amount of literature devoted to the response to the housing crisis among millennials (or young people in general) in some Western countries (especially Ireland, Germany, Spain or Sweden). Millennials are usually described there as active and sometimes radical in the ways in which they seek to raise awareness of the housing crisis and in the ways in which they seek to change the neoliberal housing policies in their countries (Lima, 2021 ; Lochlain, 2021 ; Waldron, 2022 ; Hoolachan & McKee, 2019 ; Listerborn et al, 2020 ; García-Lamarca, 2017 ).…”

Politična participacija mladih onkraj volitev: konceptualni premisleki in izzivi proučevanja

“…Ta gibanja so tudi preusmerila fokus svojega političnega delovanja zgolj z naslavljanja političnih predstavnikov in so tarče svojega delovanja prepoznala tako v zasebnem sektorju (banke) kakor tudi v skupnosti sami (oblikovanje novih oblik povezovanja in solidarnosti). Podobne prakse opisujejo tudi avtorji na Irskem (Lima, 2021a;2021b), ki poudarjajo postopno radikalizacijo gibanj zaradi zaostrovanja razmer in neodzivnosti države. Gibanja tako vse pogosteje posegajo po direktnih nenasilnih akcijah, kot so zasedbe stanovanj in neposredno zoperstavljanje lastnikom v obliki protestov in blokad.…”

Tendencje rozwojowe w architekturze mieszkaniowej i mieszkalnictwie w Polsce w I dwudziestoleciu XXI w.

“…City activists criticise this type of housing development by questioning the very notion of housing as a commodity. Instead, they argue housing is a fundamental human right (Lima, 2021).…”