Public Goods versus Economic Interests: Global Perspectives on the History of Squatting, edited by Freia Anders and Alexander Sedlmaier, New York: Routledge, pp. 278-304, 2016
The fall of the Berlin Wall marks the beginning of a new wave of squatting, which spread to nearl... more The fall of the Berlin Wall marks the beginning of a new wave of squatting, which spread to nearly all larger cities in the former GDR. Against the background of uncertain property relations and a relative power vacuum, squatters appropriated vacant buildings and factories in inner city districts, which had been abandoned and left to decay by real-socialist planning and housing policies. Two decades later, the centres of these squatter movements had been transformed into sites of gentrification, and squats became subject to conflicting interests about urban development and ‘revitalization’ strategies. We argue that squatters, rather than being pioneers of gentrification (as is sometimes suggested), were alien elements and sources of irritation to neoliberal strategies of urban renewal. Taking the examples of four East German cities – Potsdam, East Berlin, Leipzig, and Dresden – we examine three criteria to explain different strategies and patterns of co-optation and resistance: the condition of real estate markets and revaluation interests; the urban renewal strategies of the local authorities; and the political goals and identities of squatter scenes. Finally, comparing the histories of squatting and gentrification in these four cities will highlight possible alternatives to contemporary urban renewal and housing policies
Uploads
Papers by Armin Kuhn
Heute, angesichts einer tiefen Krise der neoliberalen Stadt, wird die Frage nach dem Recht auf Stadt wieder mit Nachdruck gestellt. Besetzungen spielen dort eine entscheidende Rolle, wo es gelungen ist, die ambivalent gewordenen Strategien und Identitätsentwürfe abzuschütteln und sich den neuen, aus städtischen Alltagsbeziehungen entstandenen Formen des Gemeinsamen zu öffnen.
Squatting can be an individual strategy for shelter or a collective experiment in communal living. Squatted and self-managed social centres have contributed to the renewal of urban struggles across Europe and intersect with larger political projects. However, not all squatters share the same goals, resources, backgrounds or desire for visibility.
Squatting in Europe aims to move beyond the conventional understandings of squatting, investigating its history in Europe over the past four decades. Historical comparisons and analysis blend together in these inquiries into squatting in the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, France, Germany and England. In it members of SqEK (Squatting Europe Kollective) explore the diverse, radical, and often controversial nature of squatting as a form of militant research and self-managed knowledge production.
Essays by Miguel Martínez, Gianni Piazza, Hans Pruijt, Pierpaolo Mudu, Claudio Cattaneo, Andre Holm, Armin Kuhn, Linus Owens, Florence Bouillon, Thomas Aguilera, and ETC Dee."