Right to the City Struggles Transnational – Building Translocal Connections Beyond Boarders

The urban fabrics of our cities are closely linked to transnational conditions of exploitation and oppression. Global capital is investing everywhere, displacing people and transforming our neighborhoods into grey and lifeless financial assets. Even though our struggles are mainly located on a local level, it is still necessary that activism crosses borders in order to win. When capitalism acts cross-boarder, we need to form translocal networks, learn from each other and be in solidarity with each other. This panel seeks to have an insight on transnational biographies and different struggles that are interconnected beyond boarders.

The Workshops are part of the “Forum Right to the City”, June 2 to 4 in Oberhausen, further information: https://rechtaufstadt-forum.de

Ciudad Migrante: Strategien gegen die Bürokratie und die Wohnungsnot von Migrant*innen in Berlin

June 3, 9 to 11 a. m.

Ciudad Migrante ist ein vom Bloque Latinoamericano Berlin organisierter Kreis, an dem sich alle beteiligen können, die über die spezifischen Auswirkungen des Wohnungsmarktes und der Bürokratie auf die Entfaltung des Lebens von Migrant*innen in Berlin nachdenken möchten. Sein Hauptziel ist es, auf der Grundlage von Selbstverwaltung und gegenseitiger Hilfe kollektive Lösungen für das Problem des Zugangs zu Wohnraum zu entwickeln. Im Laufe des letzten Jahres haben die Teilnehmer*innen der Initiative verschiedene kommunikative Werkzeuge entwickelt, die Migrant*innen helfen, ihre Rechte als Mieter*innen besser zu verstehen und vor allem zu verteidigen. In Zusammenarbeit mit Künstler*innen und Geograph*innen sind Illustrationen, Videos, Texte und Karten entstanden, die eine kritische Orientierung während des Prozesses der Wohnungssuche in Berlin bieten. Aber über ihre analytische und kommunikative Funktion hinaus, sind die Werkzeuge von Ciudad Migrante als Instrumente für die Bildung und die politische Aktion im Kampf gegen die Prekarität geschaffen, welche durch die Bürokratie und den Immobilienmarkt erzeugt wird. Im Rahmen des Recht auf Stadt Forums werden diese Werkzeuge vorgestellt, um eine Auseinandersetzung über unsere politische Übersetzungsarbeit mit den Teilnehmer*innen zu ermöglichen: ¿Was versteht man unter dem Begriff „soziale Wohnraumproduktion“ [producción social del hábitat]? ¿Inwiefern kann die gemeinsame Sprache der Selbstverwaltung aus den lateinamerikanischen Erfahrungen für die urbanen Kämpfe im globalen Norden inspirierend sein? ¿An welchen Schnittstellen können Migrant*innen zusammen mit anderen Sektoren der urbanen Bevölkerung arbeiten, um gegenüber dem Staat und den parlamentarischen Parteien seine Bedingungen zu formulieren?

Local and (trans-)local organizing against evictions and spatial precarisation 

June 3, 11:15 a.m to 1:15 p.m.

All over Europe the financial crisis and its following consequences for housing conditions brought the issues of eviction, forced sale and the criminalization of informal housing in the focus of Right to the City movements. Contesting different local conditions of this strong precarisation of housing – for example an owner-orientated housing politics, neoliberal social politics, state racism – there have been arising various tools of resistance, subversion, protest and organizing. During our workshop we will be gathering transnational experiences coming from the long-term struggle against evictions. Together with activists from Spain, Portugal, Austria, Romania and Serbia we will perform a transnational strategic comparison and evaluation: How has the topic of eviction and homelessness been shifting over the recent decade? What political strategies have we been developing out of our struggles? And how are these strategies shaping a local and transnational Right to the City movement? What transnational connections have we been building during our protest against evictions? Our discussion will be first looking back on recent struggles against eviction and homelessness. Moreover, we will be focusing on special challenges of organizing within this field of action like questions of representation, exclusion and racism.

With: La PAH (Spain/Barcelon), Habita (Portugal/Lisbon), FCDL – Frontul Comun pentru Dreptul la Locuire(Romania/Bucharest), Zwangsräumung verhindern! (Austria/Wien)

Workshop language: English with Spanish and German translation

Care Crisis and Housing Crises – Alliances and joint strategies of queer-feminist and housing movements

June 3, 2:45 to 4:45 p.m.

During our workshop we will be approaching connections between queer-feminist and Right to the City movements. We will be discussing intersections between a crises of care work and a crisis of affordable social housing. Assuming that both crises are leading back to common transnational social questions – such as issues of racism and migration, segregation and social disparity or cutbacks within social politics – our discussion will be aiming on strengthening cross movement alliances between feminist and Right to the city movements. For this purpose we will be working on a better understanding of respective local experiences and interpretations of the current care and housing crises. Together with care workers and feminist initiatives and initiatives for affordable housing we will be approaching the following questions: How are a housing and care crises appearing in different local contexts and how are they connected? What can we learn from each other’s ways of political action and organizing? How can we build a joint response to these crises? We will be approaching these questions by discussing concrete starting points for social change: What gaps of social politics are we observing? And what needs for social infrastructure are becoming visible through the lense of a Right to the city? How can we build a collectivity against moments of isolation within care work? What forms of housing and public spaces are needed for this? What dependencies are coming along with private property? And what new models of property can overcome them? 

With: LevFem (Bulgaria/Sofia), La PAH (Spain/Barcelona), Pravo na grad (Croatia/Zagreb), Ana Vilenica(Serbia/Belgrade), Habita (Portugal/Lisbon), FCDL – Frontul Comun pentru Dreptul la Locuire (Romania/Bucharest),

Workshop language: English with Spanish and German translation

How can we make transnational solidarity practical? Workshop with the European Action Coalition

From Ponta Delgada to Nicosia, over 60 European cities and towns participated in Housing Action Days this year. As overall housing conditions have continued to deteriorate over the past five years, new forms of resistance and action have emerged, such as the powerful tenants‘ unions in UK, Ireland and Catalonia, or the (in)successful referendum in Berlin. At the same time, many groups that had emerged from an earlier wave of organizing have experienced difficulty keeping up with and updating their strategies. We have also lost significant battles, often at the hands of higher instances of political power. In addition, geopolitical events such as the war in Ukraine have created new forms of exploitation and accelerated others. Most of us seem to agree that a shared analysis of changing conditions, alliances and coordinated actions, knowledge sharing, and solidarity are increasingly important if we are to resist and defeat the housing market and its political institutions. But despite the general recognition and moments of genuine comradeship we often experience, transnational organizing can also be frustrating. Learning about the differences and complexities of our struggles can be overwhelming. For groups focused on local issues, simple solidarity actions can seem power-sapping and redundant. MIPIM, a real estate fair in France where most European administrators and landlords gather, is still too abstract and distant for many groups to organize against. 

In our practical workshop, we want to create space to talk about failures and successes, skepticism, and euphoria, about why our movements do or do not participate in transnational actions. Together, let’s find ways to improve and expand our transnational alliances inside and outside the housing movement and make them a strong support for our local organizing.

With: different activists and groups from the European Action Coalition for the Right to Housing and to the City (EAC)

Workshop language: English with Spanish and German translation

The workshop program is part of an exchange with