Urban Politics of Squatters' Movements

Dr Miguel A. Martínez is Professor of Housing and Urban Sociology at the Institute for Housing and Urban Research, University of Uppsala, Sweden) He was previously affiliated to the City University of Hong Kong and the Complutense University of Madrid (Spain). He participates regularly in SqEK (Squatting Europe Kollective).

“The book achieved its aim in terms of tracing the change of the European squatter movement comprehensively. ... this vivid history of squatters’ battle against urban renewal, regeneration, and gentrification in Europe after the 1970s has a wide appeal for activists and researchers of urban social movements, gentrification, and urban policy.” (Meric Kirmizi, Sociological Research Online, February 10, 2019)“The collection of essays presented in The Urban Politics of Squatters’ Movements presents a valuable resource for researchers by establishing a replicable methodology for application in different localities, having demonstrated the process for developing a community-driven knowledge bank spanning many geographies to add significant value to first-hand accounts from squatter communities. The act of mapping squatting activity in this way also provides a unique resource for researchers,decision-makers and policy developers … .” (Jack Barton, Housing Studies, Vol. 34 (6), 2019)“The Urban Politics of Squatters’ Movements therefore represents a useful contribution allowing readers to familiarize themselves with the complex and variegated history of squatting in Western Europe. … The edited volume is definitely recommended for activists, students and scholars willing to learn more about the histories of the squatting movements in Western Europe, emphasizing the importance of considering the (complex and dynamic) relations between squatters, formal institutions and urban processes of transformation.” (Cesare Di Feliciantonio, Antipode, April, 2019)“This book is a collaborative product by a group of activists, academics and researchers working together, both online and offline, on squatting and squatters’ movements throughout Europe. … The book is a must for those working on squatters’ movements and will also be of benefit to researchers, academics and students in the wider field of urban studies, especially those studying urban social movements.” (International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, February, 28, 2019)“The Urban Politics of Squatters’ Movements is an important contribution from an empirical perspective. It does not just provide a variegated description of the main features of squatting in the nine cities under analysis; it also looks at the past decades of squatting with a demystifying lens, revealing the constraints and repression to which squatter movements are always subjected.” (Carlotta Caciagli, Partecipazione e Conflitto, Vol. 11 (2), 2018)“The Urban Politics of Squatters’ Movements provides a valuable addition to a growing body of literature documenting and analysing a modern history of urban squatter's movements across Europe. … this collection offers a detailed account of an array of urban squatting movements across Europe, the contents of which will be of interest to all sociologists concerned with social organisation, social change, and the social movements that arise out of (and contribute to) these key facets of sociological interest.” (Rhiannon Craft, thesociologicalreview.com, December, 2018)

• Introduction. The Politics of Squatting, Time Frames and Spatial Contexts.- PART I. Case Studies.- Socio-Spatial Structures and Protest Cycles of Squatted Social Centres in Madrid.- Squatting Cycles in Barcelona: Identities, Repression and The Controversy of Institutionalisation.- Shifting Socio-Spatial Contexts and The Space of Social Movements: Squatting in Seville..- Occupations of Housing and Social Centers in Rome: A Durable Resistance to Neoliberalism and Institutionalisation.- The Squatting Movement(s) in Paris: Internal Divides and Conditions for Survival.- The Cycles of Squatting in Berlin (1969-2016).- Cycles of The Copenhagen Squatter Movement: From Slumstormer to Bz Brigades and The Autonomous Movement.- The Political Squatters' Movement and Its Social Centres in The Gentrifying City of Rotterdam.- The Ebb and Flow of Resistance: The Squatters' Movement and Squatted Social Centres in Brighton.- PART II. Comparisons.- More Than Four Decades OF Squatting: Cycles, Waves and Stages of Autonomous Urban Politics in European Cities.- Keep Your Piece of Cake, We’ll Squat The Bakery! Autonomy Meets Repression and Institutionalisation.- Squatted Social Centres and The Housing Question.