Local politics in Spain has triggered iconic shifts over the last few years, and the electoral su... more Local politics in Spain has triggered iconic shifts over the last few years, and the electoral success of new 'movement parties' in particular has dramatically challenged the political establishment. Between 2015 and 2019, many municipalities-including, crucially, the two biggest cities, Madrid and Barcelona-were governed by coalitions originating from anti-austerity, anti-eviction and pro-democracy struggles. This has significantly affected hegemonic and widely normalised discourses supporting the neoli-beralisation of urban politics, and to some extent has also prompted novel governance approaches. Based on empirical research undertaken with local councillors, officials, consultants and activists, the article develops an in-depth analysis of governance transformations in the Spanish capital of Madrid. By doing so, it evaluates the ambiguities and contradictions that the government coalition Ahora Madrid was facing during the 2015-2019 legislative term. The debate stimulates critical reflections for academics , practitioners and movements on the transformative capacities that new municipalisms may enact, as well as the constraints faced by established multi-level urban governance regimes.
Transnational gentrifications have been occurring at the crossroads of capital investment fuelled... more Transnational gentrifications have been occurring at the crossroads of capital investment fuelled to satisfy the remarkable increase of so-called leisure-oriented mobilities. Such mobilities, however , cause disruptive social, spatial and economic transformations of urban and rural landscapes across the globe. Consequently, transnational gentrifications may be considered a crucial testimonial of economic shifts, during the 2008-2020 period of accumulation. In this article, we argue that the underlying conceptual assumptions of transnational gentrifications require crucial adjustments. We should especially consider the intellectual roots that simply celebrate leisure-oriented mobilities while setting aside the exclusionary social practices of the consumption of space, culture , heritage and place. We do this by interpreting the phenomenon by means of a political economy that understands (i) the lens of the multi-scalar organisation of state power as a centre-piece for orchestrating the conditions for transnational gentrifications; (ii) transnational middle-class leisure-oriented mobilities linked dichotomously with labour precariousness and flexibility; and (iii) the rent gap as an analytical tool to understand dispossession, and corresponding displacement of people, practices and discourses. This approach sheds light on the nuances of gentrifi-cation as an attribute of systemic violence exercised in financialised capitalism. It also supports us to sketch out a theoretically informed outlook for the ongoing reorientation of intertwined gen-trifications by transnational capital investments with intermittent flows of people in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The rapid internationalisation of the Spanish property market has triggered debates about the mai... more The rapid internationalisation of the Spanish property market has triggered debates about the main characteristics of emerging post-crisis urban dynamics. Financial and urban policy reforms have shaped a model depicted by incessant rent increases and displacements. Echoing these concerns, this article addresses two interconnected objectives about the way policy restructuring encouraged transnational investments into Spanish real estate and the concomitant socio-spatial effects this wider asset reshuffling has produced. Both queries are discussed by pinpointing the multi-scalar investment strategies of the private equity firm, Blackstone, which emerged as the predominant institutional investor during the recovery phase of the Spanish property market. The article initially sketches out the trajectory of the political economy of housing in Spain, and then it focuses on the strategies pursued by Blackstone for the acquisition of real estate and housing stock. The following sections connect the nodes of the financial chain that link this investor to former social housing tenants whose homes are by now owned by Blackstone. The spatial and social effects of this change in property ownership demonstrate the importance of in-depth research about the financial nodes that interplay with and shape the post-crisis urban condition in and beyond Southern Europe.
Large-scale housing programmes targeting low-income households have dramatically transformed Lati... more Large-scale housing programmes targeting low-income households have dramatically transformed Latin American cities over the last quarter of a century, creating uneven social and material geographies of peripheral urbanisation. Having experienced the sprawl of 600,000 housing units since the turn of the century, the Metropolitan Area of Mexico City can be considered a striking example of the profound territorial restructuring that has been taking place in cities across the continent. By considering nuanced perspectives rooted in political economy to address the alteration of space and place, this article analyses the social and spatial dynamics in peripheral low-income housing estates in Mexico City. It draws from empirical research in two municipalities that have the highest metropolitan concentration of newly built low-income housing estates. The comparative discussion of the results demonstrate that mutually entangled processes of abandonment and insurgent appropriation of peripheral urban habitat in two neighbourhoods may be considered as facets of a political process that has promoted the financialisation of housing and a class-related urban restructuring.
The emerging postcrisis geographies in Southern Europe are intrinsically
related to debt and disp... more The emerging postcrisis geographies in Southern Europe are intrinsically related to debt and dispossession. In Spain, mortgage homeownership and indebtedness led to housing dispossessions, while in Greece, skyrocketing private indebtedness is eventually arranged through housing foreclosures. Building upon the notion of accumulation by dispossession, i.e., on the way capital accumulates wealth in the era of neoliberal globalization, this article elaborates two novel concepts to understand the housing crises in both countries. The perception of dispossession by odious taxation describes the process of wealth extraction facilitated by financial mechanisms in Greece, and dispossession by political fraud is conceived as a characterization of fraudulent political arrangements and financial tools used for orchestrating housing stealth in Spain. This nurtures the perception that a comparative insight on the processes of dispossession in the Spanish and Greek housing markets may facilitate a nuanced understanding over the interrelated processes of contemporary housing restructuring.
In this article, we develop a contextual framing for the analysis of the social, economic and pol... more In this article, we develop a contextual framing for the analysis of the social, economic and political transformations that have altered Latin American cities since the turn of the century, especially by displacing deprived households from the central city. We de-centre research on gentrification through the territorial and linguistic lens of Latin America, epitomising four simultaneously paradigmatic, but diverging and diverse gentrification scenarios. In such a comparativist account, emphasis is placed on: (i) the decisive role that public institutions play for gentrification in Latin America, especially with regard to the ferocity of new real estate markets; (ii) the symbolic violence that is required to re-appropriate architectural and cultural heritage; (iii) the vehemence of formalising urbanity in economies that are dominated by informal ways of producing, living and appropriating the city. Such debates conceptualise displacement and eviction from a perspective that is theoretically informed by the realities of Latin American cities.
London's housing crisis is rooted in a neo-liberal urban project to recommodify and finan-cialise... more London's housing crisis is rooted in a neo-liberal urban project to recommodify and finan-cialise housing and land in a global city. But where exactly is the crisis heading? What future is being prepared for London's urban dwellers? How can we learn from other country and city contexts to usefully speculate about London's housing future? In this paper, we bring together recent evidence and insights from the rise of what we call 'global corporate land-lords' (GCLs) in 'post-crisis' urban landscapes in North America and Europe to argue that London's housing crisis—and the policies and processes impelling and intervening in it— could represent a key moment in shaping the city's long-term housing future. We trace the variegated ways in which private equity firms and institutional investors have exploited distressed housing markets and the new profitable opportunities created by states and supra-national bodies in coming to the rescue of capitalism in the USA, Spain, Ireland and Greece in response to the global financial crisis of 2007 – 2008. We then apply that analysis to emerging developments in the political economy of London's housing system, arguing that despite having a very low presence in the London residential property market and facing major entry barriers, GCLs are starting to position themselves in preparation for potential entry points such as the new privatisation threat to public and social rented housing.
The city region of Madrid can be considered as an exponent of the striking contradictions associa... more The city region of Madrid can be considered as an exponent of the striking contradictions associated with the contemporary market-oriented production of housing. Given the increasing economic constraints of many middle-and working-class households because of the crisis, property values have been declining for practically seven years now, and tens of thousands of households have been evicted from their homes because they were unable to pay back their mortgages. Simultaneously, since the outbreak of the indignados movement in May 2011, a contestation of the structural forces ruling the real estate sector has been taking place, and questions about the right of housing became a prominent part of the public debate in an increasingly politicised society. Alongside the background of literature about the post-political city and subversive citizenship, this article pursues three key aims: It analyses the consequences of the persistent crisis with a special focus on the residential housing market in Madrid. Secondly, an analysis of the new social and political dynamics that have been emerging during the crisis is developed. Finally, it pinpoints to the way how the emergence of new actors within contemporary housing struggles has been shifting the social and political discourses in this political arena. Such an approach brings together discussions from the field of Political Science with the new geographies of contested crisis urbanism that relate to debates about the social construction of the city, citizenship and disobedience.
Major social and political transformations such as the shift towards neoliberal urban policies ha... more Major social and political transformations such as the shift towards neoliberal urban policies have widely altered the contemporary structuring of metropolitan areas in Spain and Latin America. One key consequence is the recapture of city centres by wealthy tenants and the eviction of poorer households, a phenomenon usually designated by the term gentrification. In comparison to the comprehensive documentation of gentrification in the Anglophone environment, few scholars have paid attention to this phenomenon in this area of the world so far. This article responds to this gap, providing an exhaustive revision of the debates about gentrification occurring in Spain and Latin America during the last decade and tracking two theoretical motivations. First, it stresses the necessity of characterizing gentrification discourses in Spain and Latin America, preparing a conceptual appropriation and contextualization of the term itself. Second, it confirms that gentrification in Spain and Latin America varies substantially from processes observed in the Anglophone world. As a result, the review develops insights into emancipating and challenging debates that remain useful for the mainstream gentrification discourse too. Addressing this, it proposes a reconsideration and repoliticization of gentrification through the territorial and linguistic lens of Spanish and Latin American researchers.
Occupied the night after the worldwide mobilisation of 15 October 2011, the #hotelmadrid was an i... more Occupied the night after the worldwide mobilisation of 15 October 2011, the #hotelmadrid was an intensive, 50-day-long political experiment that turned an abandoned hotel in the heart of the Spanish capital into a radical political space and the perceived node of the indignados movement. The squatting of the hotel accomplishes key demands related to ‘real democracy’ and the re-appropriation of public space as a political space with claims for the right tohousing, providing an excellent example for the discussion of the shifting dimensions of emancipatory struggles that emerged in the course of the Spanish 15-M Movement. In this regard, squatters engage actively against neoliberalism, promote the right to housing and convert such mobilisation into a forward-looking project that not only reclaims but also takes, socialising private properties through common repossession. Referring to strategic disobedience we discuss how protest camps, public political assemblies and squatting create spaces of citizenship and intend to crack naturalised facets of capitalism such as the powerful discourse about property rights.
The following article develops a framework for the analysis of political participation and commun... more The following article develops a framework for the analysis of political participation and community involvement in destinations of lifestyle mobility. Based on central arguments of Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice, the proposed conceptual approach defends the idea that the political activation of relatively affluent and often senior citizens in lifestyle communities can be thought of as an expression of habitus dispositions that are the subject of radical reflexivity. The presented frame is proved empirically by means of an analysis of both formal and informal political participation processes at the Spanish Costa Blanca (Alicante), a regional setting with conflictive political struggles related to urban development and symbolical appropriations of place and space. Amongst others, the tactical and strategic practices of a protest movement that complains against serious misuses of the regional land use regulation by local and regional authorities will be analysed. In this regard, lifestyle mobilities do not refer exclusively to persons but also include movements of capital, objects and knowledge that are implicated in local politics and urban development.
Lifestyle migration, such as the temporary or permanent movement of European citizens to coastal ... more Lifestyle migration, such as the temporary or permanent movement of European citizens to coastal areas in Southern Europe, widely responds to the freedom of movement that EU citizenship provides to all its members. Although this migration can be evaluated as an individual and rather apolitical expression of a politically intended mobility within the European Union, it may seriously alter political life within destinations. The following article presents a case study about the political mobilization of lifestyle migrants living on the Spanish Mediterranean coast. It is based on empirical research and explores narrative interviews with members of a transnationally active political pressure group that campaigns against misapplications of local and regional land use policies. The central aim of the text consists of evaluating how central actors draw on European identity within conflict negotiations that traverse diverse scales including the European level. Referring to this, the article engages with key issues in contemporary sociological debates addressed in this monograph , namely the question of how sociologists approach the study of the political in general and how imaginations of Europe and European identity are strategically appropriated within political debates.
Amenity-oriented migration of mainly retired North Americans to destinations in Latin America is ... more Amenity-oriented migration of mainly retired North Americans to destinations in Latin America is a relatively new but rapidly expanding mobility that, amongst others, induces an interesting array of political claims and practices. Unlike economic migrants, the predominantly wealthy and often economically successful amenity migrants possess resources to participate in local and regional development; additionally, they have the know-how to initiate and activate political networks. The paper discusses recent trends of lifestyle-oriented mobilities to Latin America and aims at developing a conceptual framework to analyse the role foreigners can play in the negotiation of strategies for local and regional development. Regime analysis, a particular way to conceive governance, is used as a tool to consider the possibilities and problems arising from lifestyle mobilities to Latin America, as specified through the empirical debate regarding planning conflicts in a recently established retirement destination in northern Costa Rica.
La producción de vivienda de interés social fue por diez años uno de los emblemas de la política ... more La producción de vivienda de interés social fue por diez años uno de los emblemas de la política ecuatoriana de la Revolución Ciudadana presidida por Rafael Correa. Desde el caso de Ecuador, se analiza cómo los gobiernos progresistas aplicaron políticas en el ámbito de la vivienda social y el desarrollo urbano. Este artículo rastrea qué escalas de aplicación tuvieron estas políticas sociales respecto al neoliberalismo, desde el punto de vista de las violencias y contestaciones que el proceso suscitó. En Quito, las familias se organizaron para obtener las viviendas prometidas tras años de espera. En Guayaquil, la violencia policial desplazó barrios enteros para concretar la renovación urbana mediante un plan ecológico. En Portoviejo, a partir del terremoto de 2016, se reconvirtió el centro y se desplazó la vivienda a la periferia. Desde una metodología mixta histórica, espacial y cualitativa, este análisis muestra las limitaciones de las propuestas de los gobiernos progresistas y la organización popular para evitar desplazamientos hacia las periferias.
Este artículo aporta una comprensión pormenorizada de los procesos urbanos claves que se han ido ... more Este artículo aporta una comprensión pormenorizada de los procesos urbanos claves que se han ido perpetuando en las ciudades latinoamericanas durante los primeros tres lustros del siglo XXI y que consisten en la reconquista de las áreas centrales y peri-centrales por parte del capital inmobiliario. Esta metamorfosis de la ciudad consolidada se ha manifestado a partir del uso habitual de tres términos centrales: gentrificación, desplazamiento y desposesión. Basándose en una conceptualización del desplazamiento como proceso material, político, simbólico y psicológico, se irá fomentando una comprensión teórica de los procesos que conllevan al desplazamiento de las subjetividades populares de las áreas centrales y peri-centrales de las ciudades latinoamericanas. A partir de un análisis comparativista desarrollado en cinco ciudades – Ciudad de México, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago de Chile y Quito – se establece una tipificación de los procesos de desplazamiento y desposesión. Esta discusión permite analizar el significado que tiene la reconfiguración territorial de cara a las injusticias espaciales, así como para los discursos en torno al “Derecho a la Ciudad”, aportando por tanto una comprensión política adicional de los procesos urbanos que se consideran claves en las primeras décadas del siglo XXI.
La vivienda constituye un problema de múltiples dimensiones cuyo abordaje requiere tener en cuent... more La vivienda constituye un problema de múltiples dimensiones cuyo abordaje requiere tener en cuenta los factores históricos, sociales, económicos y financieros que en ella se entrelazan, así como los aspectos legales, jurídicos y su dimensión política. Este artículo pretende contribuir a dicha comprensión mediante un análisis entre vivienda y política macroeconómica en sus diferentes facetas, tanto para el caso español como europeo, que señala las principales contradicciones y carencias de décadas anteriores. A continuación, y considerando los impactos de la crisis económica y la conformación del problema social de la vivienda, se examina cómo la vivienda ha pasado de ser objeto de acumulación a ser el detonador de amplios procesos de des-posesión. Finalmente se enfocan las políticas actuales, destinadas a promover una nueva ronda de liberalización y financiarización de la vivienda y se concluye con una reflexión acerca del rol de la vivienda en la sociedad española contemporánea.
Las luchas por la vivienda que emergieron como consecuencia de la crisis económica están llevando... more Las luchas por la vivienda que emergieron como consecuencia de la crisis económica están llevando a cabo diversas prácticas de desobediencia para reclamar el derecho a la vivienda digna en la ciudad. Éstas tienen una gran variedad de repertorios que van desde una reproducción de las formas institucionalizadas y legales de acceso a la vivienda hasta la acción directa no violenta que desafía la legalidad instituida, con el objetivo de garantizar una vivienda digna a personas desahuciadas. De este modo, la recuperación colectiva de viviendas vacías, propiedad de las entidades financieras, se ha convertido en una de las señas de identidad de las luchas por la vivienda, generando una constante disputa entre la ciudad neoliberal y los procesos de construcción de la ciudad desde abajo. Este artículo realiza un análisis multi-escalar de la capacidad de transformación que tienen los procesos de recuperación de viviendas como ejemplo paradigmático de espacios en disputa. Por consiguiente, se reflexiona acerca de los efectos emancipadores que el proceso de “okupación” tiene en la subjetividad de las personas afectadas y participantes de la acción, en los procesos de construcción colectiva, así como en términos de territorio o espacio.
Las principales transformaciones sociales y políticas, así como la implementación de las política... more Las principales transformaciones sociales y políticas, así como la implementación de las políticas urbanas neoliberales han alterado profundamente la estructuración de las ciudades en España y América Latina. Entre sus consecuencias destaca la reconquista de los centros urbanos por las clases acomodadas, que conlleva la expulsión de los hogares con menores ingresos, un fenómeno generalmente abor-dado mediante el término de gentrifi cación. Hasta el momento y en comparación con la abundante literatura anglosajona sobre gentrifi cación, pocos investigadores han prestado atención al fenómeno en estas dos áreas geográfi cas. Este artículo responde a esta laguna y ofrece una exhaustiva revisión de los debates sobre gentrifi cación que se han producido en España y América Latina durante la últi-ma década, siguiendo dos presupuestos. En primer lugar, se hace hincapié en la necesidad de caracterizar los discursos de la gentrifi cación en España y América Latina, para conseguir una adecuada apropiación y contextualización del concep-to. Y en segundo lugar, se afi rma que la gentrifi cación en España y América Latina difi ere sustancialmente de los procesos observados en el mundo anglosajón. A partir de este análisis se propone por tanto una reconsideración y repolitización del concepto de gentrifi cación a través de la visión territorial y lingüística de los investigadores españoles y latinoamericanos. ABSTRACT Major social and political transformations such as the shift towards neoliberal urban policies have widely altered the contemporary structuring of metropolitan areas in Spain and Latin America. One key consequence is the recapture of city centres by wealthy tenants and the eviction of poorer households, a phenomenon usually designated by the term gentrifi cation. In comparison to the comprehensive documentation of gentrifi cation in the Anglophone environment, few scholars 1 Este texto es la traducción del artículo " Gentrifi ca-tion in Spain and Latin America – a Critical Dialogue " que fue publicado en la revista
Local politics in Spain has triggered iconic shifts over the last few years, and the electoral su... more Local politics in Spain has triggered iconic shifts over the last few years, and the electoral success of new 'movement parties' in particular has dramatically challenged the political establishment. Between 2015 and 2019, many municipalities-including, crucially, the two biggest cities, Madrid and Barcelona-were governed by coalitions originating from anti-austerity, anti-eviction and pro-democracy struggles. This has significantly affected hegemonic and widely normalised discourses supporting the neoli-beralisation of urban politics, and to some extent has also prompted novel governance approaches. Based on empirical research undertaken with local councillors, officials, consultants and activists, the article develops an in-depth analysis of governance transformations in the Spanish capital of Madrid. By doing so, it evaluates the ambiguities and contradictions that the government coalition Ahora Madrid was facing during the 2015-2019 legislative term. The debate stimulates critical reflections for academics , practitioners and movements on the transformative capacities that new municipalisms may enact, as well as the constraints faced by established multi-level urban governance regimes.
Transnational gentrifications have been occurring at the crossroads of capital investment fuelled... more Transnational gentrifications have been occurring at the crossroads of capital investment fuelled to satisfy the remarkable increase of so-called leisure-oriented mobilities. Such mobilities, however , cause disruptive social, spatial and economic transformations of urban and rural landscapes across the globe. Consequently, transnational gentrifications may be considered a crucial testimonial of economic shifts, during the 2008-2020 period of accumulation. In this article, we argue that the underlying conceptual assumptions of transnational gentrifications require crucial adjustments. We should especially consider the intellectual roots that simply celebrate leisure-oriented mobilities while setting aside the exclusionary social practices of the consumption of space, culture , heritage and place. We do this by interpreting the phenomenon by means of a political economy that understands (i) the lens of the multi-scalar organisation of state power as a centre-piece for orchestrating the conditions for transnational gentrifications; (ii) transnational middle-class leisure-oriented mobilities linked dichotomously with labour precariousness and flexibility; and (iii) the rent gap as an analytical tool to understand dispossession, and corresponding displacement of people, practices and discourses. This approach sheds light on the nuances of gentrifi-cation as an attribute of systemic violence exercised in financialised capitalism. It also supports us to sketch out a theoretically informed outlook for the ongoing reorientation of intertwined gen-trifications by transnational capital investments with intermittent flows of people in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The rapid internationalisation of the Spanish property market has triggered debates about the mai... more The rapid internationalisation of the Spanish property market has triggered debates about the main characteristics of emerging post-crisis urban dynamics. Financial and urban policy reforms have shaped a model depicted by incessant rent increases and displacements. Echoing these concerns, this article addresses two interconnected objectives about the way policy restructuring encouraged transnational investments into Spanish real estate and the concomitant socio-spatial effects this wider asset reshuffling has produced. Both queries are discussed by pinpointing the multi-scalar investment strategies of the private equity firm, Blackstone, which emerged as the predominant institutional investor during the recovery phase of the Spanish property market. The article initially sketches out the trajectory of the political economy of housing in Spain, and then it focuses on the strategies pursued by Blackstone for the acquisition of real estate and housing stock. The following sections connect the nodes of the financial chain that link this investor to former social housing tenants whose homes are by now owned by Blackstone. The spatial and social effects of this change in property ownership demonstrate the importance of in-depth research about the financial nodes that interplay with and shape the post-crisis urban condition in and beyond Southern Europe.
Large-scale housing programmes targeting low-income households have dramatically transformed Lati... more Large-scale housing programmes targeting low-income households have dramatically transformed Latin American cities over the last quarter of a century, creating uneven social and material geographies of peripheral urbanisation. Having experienced the sprawl of 600,000 housing units since the turn of the century, the Metropolitan Area of Mexico City can be considered a striking example of the profound territorial restructuring that has been taking place in cities across the continent. By considering nuanced perspectives rooted in political economy to address the alteration of space and place, this article analyses the social and spatial dynamics in peripheral low-income housing estates in Mexico City. It draws from empirical research in two municipalities that have the highest metropolitan concentration of newly built low-income housing estates. The comparative discussion of the results demonstrate that mutually entangled processes of abandonment and insurgent appropriation of peripheral urban habitat in two neighbourhoods may be considered as facets of a political process that has promoted the financialisation of housing and a class-related urban restructuring.
The emerging postcrisis geographies in Southern Europe are intrinsically
related to debt and disp... more The emerging postcrisis geographies in Southern Europe are intrinsically related to debt and dispossession. In Spain, mortgage homeownership and indebtedness led to housing dispossessions, while in Greece, skyrocketing private indebtedness is eventually arranged through housing foreclosures. Building upon the notion of accumulation by dispossession, i.e., on the way capital accumulates wealth in the era of neoliberal globalization, this article elaborates two novel concepts to understand the housing crises in both countries. The perception of dispossession by odious taxation describes the process of wealth extraction facilitated by financial mechanisms in Greece, and dispossession by political fraud is conceived as a characterization of fraudulent political arrangements and financial tools used for orchestrating housing stealth in Spain. This nurtures the perception that a comparative insight on the processes of dispossession in the Spanish and Greek housing markets may facilitate a nuanced understanding over the interrelated processes of contemporary housing restructuring.
In this article, we develop a contextual framing for the analysis of the social, economic and pol... more In this article, we develop a contextual framing for the analysis of the social, economic and political transformations that have altered Latin American cities since the turn of the century, especially by displacing deprived households from the central city. We de-centre research on gentrification through the territorial and linguistic lens of Latin America, epitomising four simultaneously paradigmatic, but diverging and diverse gentrification scenarios. In such a comparativist account, emphasis is placed on: (i) the decisive role that public institutions play for gentrification in Latin America, especially with regard to the ferocity of new real estate markets; (ii) the symbolic violence that is required to re-appropriate architectural and cultural heritage; (iii) the vehemence of formalising urbanity in economies that are dominated by informal ways of producing, living and appropriating the city. Such debates conceptualise displacement and eviction from a perspective that is theoretically informed by the realities of Latin American cities.
London's housing crisis is rooted in a neo-liberal urban project to recommodify and finan-cialise... more London's housing crisis is rooted in a neo-liberal urban project to recommodify and finan-cialise housing and land in a global city. But where exactly is the crisis heading? What future is being prepared for London's urban dwellers? How can we learn from other country and city contexts to usefully speculate about London's housing future? In this paper, we bring together recent evidence and insights from the rise of what we call 'global corporate land-lords' (GCLs) in 'post-crisis' urban landscapes in North America and Europe to argue that London's housing crisis—and the policies and processes impelling and intervening in it— could represent a key moment in shaping the city's long-term housing future. We trace the variegated ways in which private equity firms and institutional investors have exploited distressed housing markets and the new profitable opportunities created by states and supra-national bodies in coming to the rescue of capitalism in the USA, Spain, Ireland and Greece in response to the global financial crisis of 2007 – 2008. We then apply that analysis to emerging developments in the political economy of London's housing system, arguing that despite having a very low presence in the London residential property market and facing major entry barriers, GCLs are starting to position themselves in preparation for potential entry points such as the new privatisation threat to public and social rented housing.
The city region of Madrid can be considered as an exponent of the striking contradictions associa... more The city region of Madrid can be considered as an exponent of the striking contradictions associated with the contemporary market-oriented production of housing. Given the increasing economic constraints of many middle-and working-class households because of the crisis, property values have been declining for practically seven years now, and tens of thousands of households have been evicted from their homes because they were unable to pay back their mortgages. Simultaneously, since the outbreak of the indignados movement in May 2011, a contestation of the structural forces ruling the real estate sector has been taking place, and questions about the right of housing became a prominent part of the public debate in an increasingly politicised society. Alongside the background of literature about the post-political city and subversive citizenship, this article pursues three key aims: It analyses the consequences of the persistent crisis with a special focus on the residential housing market in Madrid. Secondly, an analysis of the new social and political dynamics that have been emerging during the crisis is developed. Finally, it pinpoints to the way how the emergence of new actors within contemporary housing struggles has been shifting the social and political discourses in this political arena. Such an approach brings together discussions from the field of Political Science with the new geographies of contested crisis urbanism that relate to debates about the social construction of the city, citizenship and disobedience.
Major social and political transformations such as the shift towards neoliberal urban policies ha... more Major social and political transformations such as the shift towards neoliberal urban policies have widely altered the contemporary structuring of metropolitan areas in Spain and Latin America. One key consequence is the recapture of city centres by wealthy tenants and the eviction of poorer households, a phenomenon usually designated by the term gentrification. In comparison to the comprehensive documentation of gentrification in the Anglophone environment, few scholars have paid attention to this phenomenon in this area of the world so far. This article responds to this gap, providing an exhaustive revision of the debates about gentrification occurring in Spain and Latin America during the last decade and tracking two theoretical motivations. First, it stresses the necessity of characterizing gentrification discourses in Spain and Latin America, preparing a conceptual appropriation and contextualization of the term itself. Second, it confirms that gentrification in Spain and Latin America varies substantially from processes observed in the Anglophone world. As a result, the review develops insights into emancipating and challenging debates that remain useful for the mainstream gentrification discourse too. Addressing this, it proposes a reconsideration and repoliticization of gentrification through the territorial and linguistic lens of Spanish and Latin American researchers.
Occupied the night after the worldwide mobilisation of 15 October 2011, the #hotelmadrid was an i... more Occupied the night after the worldwide mobilisation of 15 October 2011, the #hotelmadrid was an intensive, 50-day-long political experiment that turned an abandoned hotel in the heart of the Spanish capital into a radical political space and the perceived node of the indignados movement. The squatting of the hotel accomplishes key demands related to ‘real democracy’ and the re-appropriation of public space as a political space with claims for the right tohousing, providing an excellent example for the discussion of the shifting dimensions of emancipatory struggles that emerged in the course of the Spanish 15-M Movement. In this regard, squatters engage actively against neoliberalism, promote the right to housing and convert such mobilisation into a forward-looking project that not only reclaims but also takes, socialising private properties through common repossession. Referring to strategic disobedience we discuss how protest camps, public political assemblies and squatting create spaces of citizenship and intend to crack naturalised facets of capitalism such as the powerful discourse about property rights.
The following article develops a framework for the analysis of political participation and commun... more The following article develops a framework for the analysis of political participation and community involvement in destinations of lifestyle mobility. Based on central arguments of Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice, the proposed conceptual approach defends the idea that the political activation of relatively affluent and often senior citizens in lifestyle communities can be thought of as an expression of habitus dispositions that are the subject of radical reflexivity. The presented frame is proved empirically by means of an analysis of both formal and informal political participation processes at the Spanish Costa Blanca (Alicante), a regional setting with conflictive political struggles related to urban development and symbolical appropriations of place and space. Amongst others, the tactical and strategic practices of a protest movement that complains against serious misuses of the regional land use regulation by local and regional authorities will be analysed. In this regard, lifestyle mobilities do not refer exclusively to persons but also include movements of capital, objects and knowledge that are implicated in local politics and urban development.
Lifestyle migration, such as the temporary or permanent movement of European citizens to coastal ... more Lifestyle migration, such as the temporary or permanent movement of European citizens to coastal areas in Southern Europe, widely responds to the freedom of movement that EU citizenship provides to all its members. Although this migration can be evaluated as an individual and rather apolitical expression of a politically intended mobility within the European Union, it may seriously alter political life within destinations. The following article presents a case study about the political mobilization of lifestyle migrants living on the Spanish Mediterranean coast. It is based on empirical research and explores narrative interviews with members of a transnationally active political pressure group that campaigns against misapplications of local and regional land use policies. The central aim of the text consists of evaluating how central actors draw on European identity within conflict negotiations that traverse diverse scales including the European level. Referring to this, the article engages with key issues in contemporary sociological debates addressed in this monograph , namely the question of how sociologists approach the study of the political in general and how imaginations of Europe and European identity are strategically appropriated within political debates.
Amenity-oriented migration of mainly retired North Americans to destinations in Latin America is ... more Amenity-oriented migration of mainly retired North Americans to destinations in Latin America is a relatively new but rapidly expanding mobility that, amongst others, induces an interesting array of political claims and practices. Unlike economic migrants, the predominantly wealthy and often economically successful amenity migrants possess resources to participate in local and regional development; additionally, they have the know-how to initiate and activate political networks. The paper discusses recent trends of lifestyle-oriented mobilities to Latin America and aims at developing a conceptual framework to analyse the role foreigners can play in the negotiation of strategies for local and regional development. Regime analysis, a particular way to conceive governance, is used as a tool to consider the possibilities and problems arising from lifestyle mobilities to Latin America, as specified through the empirical debate regarding planning conflicts in a recently established retirement destination in northern Costa Rica.
La producción de vivienda de interés social fue por diez años uno de los emblemas de la política ... more La producción de vivienda de interés social fue por diez años uno de los emblemas de la política ecuatoriana de la Revolución Ciudadana presidida por Rafael Correa. Desde el caso de Ecuador, se analiza cómo los gobiernos progresistas aplicaron políticas en el ámbito de la vivienda social y el desarrollo urbano. Este artículo rastrea qué escalas de aplicación tuvieron estas políticas sociales respecto al neoliberalismo, desde el punto de vista de las violencias y contestaciones que el proceso suscitó. En Quito, las familias se organizaron para obtener las viviendas prometidas tras años de espera. En Guayaquil, la violencia policial desplazó barrios enteros para concretar la renovación urbana mediante un plan ecológico. En Portoviejo, a partir del terremoto de 2016, se reconvirtió el centro y se desplazó la vivienda a la periferia. Desde una metodología mixta histórica, espacial y cualitativa, este análisis muestra las limitaciones de las propuestas de los gobiernos progresistas y la organización popular para evitar desplazamientos hacia las periferias.
Este artículo aporta una comprensión pormenorizada de los procesos urbanos claves que se han ido ... more Este artículo aporta una comprensión pormenorizada de los procesos urbanos claves que se han ido perpetuando en las ciudades latinoamericanas durante los primeros tres lustros del siglo XXI y que consisten en la reconquista de las áreas centrales y peri-centrales por parte del capital inmobiliario. Esta metamorfosis de la ciudad consolidada se ha manifestado a partir del uso habitual de tres términos centrales: gentrificación, desplazamiento y desposesión. Basándose en una conceptualización del desplazamiento como proceso material, político, simbólico y psicológico, se irá fomentando una comprensión teórica de los procesos que conllevan al desplazamiento de las subjetividades populares de las áreas centrales y peri-centrales de las ciudades latinoamericanas. A partir de un análisis comparativista desarrollado en cinco ciudades – Ciudad de México, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago de Chile y Quito – se establece una tipificación de los procesos de desplazamiento y desposesión. Esta discusión permite analizar el significado que tiene la reconfiguración territorial de cara a las injusticias espaciales, así como para los discursos en torno al “Derecho a la Ciudad”, aportando por tanto una comprensión política adicional de los procesos urbanos que se consideran claves en las primeras décadas del siglo XXI.
La vivienda constituye un problema de múltiples dimensiones cuyo abordaje requiere tener en cuent... more La vivienda constituye un problema de múltiples dimensiones cuyo abordaje requiere tener en cuenta los factores históricos, sociales, económicos y financieros que en ella se entrelazan, así como los aspectos legales, jurídicos y su dimensión política. Este artículo pretende contribuir a dicha comprensión mediante un análisis entre vivienda y política macroeconómica en sus diferentes facetas, tanto para el caso español como europeo, que señala las principales contradicciones y carencias de décadas anteriores. A continuación, y considerando los impactos de la crisis económica y la conformación del problema social de la vivienda, se examina cómo la vivienda ha pasado de ser objeto de acumulación a ser el detonador de amplios procesos de des-posesión. Finalmente se enfocan las políticas actuales, destinadas a promover una nueva ronda de liberalización y financiarización de la vivienda y se concluye con una reflexión acerca del rol de la vivienda en la sociedad española contemporánea.
Las luchas por la vivienda que emergieron como consecuencia de la crisis económica están llevando... more Las luchas por la vivienda que emergieron como consecuencia de la crisis económica están llevando a cabo diversas prácticas de desobediencia para reclamar el derecho a la vivienda digna en la ciudad. Éstas tienen una gran variedad de repertorios que van desde una reproducción de las formas institucionalizadas y legales de acceso a la vivienda hasta la acción directa no violenta que desafía la legalidad instituida, con el objetivo de garantizar una vivienda digna a personas desahuciadas. De este modo, la recuperación colectiva de viviendas vacías, propiedad de las entidades financieras, se ha convertido en una de las señas de identidad de las luchas por la vivienda, generando una constante disputa entre la ciudad neoliberal y los procesos de construcción de la ciudad desde abajo. Este artículo realiza un análisis multi-escalar de la capacidad de transformación que tienen los procesos de recuperación de viviendas como ejemplo paradigmático de espacios en disputa. Por consiguiente, se reflexiona acerca de los efectos emancipadores que el proceso de “okupación” tiene en la subjetividad de las personas afectadas y participantes de la acción, en los procesos de construcción colectiva, así como en términos de territorio o espacio.
Las principales transformaciones sociales y políticas, así como la implementación de las política... more Las principales transformaciones sociales y políticas, así como la implementación de las políticas urbanas neoliberales han alterado profundamente la estructuración de las ciudades en España y América Latina. Entre sus consecuencias destaca la reconquista de los centros urbanos por las clases acomodadas, que conlleva la expulsión de los hogares con menores ingresos, un fenómeno generalmente abor-dado mediante el término de gentrifi cación. Hasta el momento y en comparación con la abundante literatura anglosajona sobre gentrifi cación, pocos investigadores han prestado atención al fenómeno en estas dos áreas geográfi cas. Este artículo responde a esta laguna y ofrece una exhaustiva revisión de los debates sobre gentrifi cación que se han producido en España y América Latina durante la últi-ma década, siguiendo dos presupuestos. En primer lugar, se hace hincapié en la necesidad de caracterizar los discursos de la gentrifi cación en España y América Latina, para conseguir una adecuada apropiación y contextualización del concep-to. Y en segundo lugar, se afi rma que la gentrifi cación en España y América Latina difi ere sustancialmente de los procesos observados en el mundo anglosajón. A partir de este análisis se propone por tanto una reconsideración y repolitización del concepto de gentrifi cación a través de la visión territorial y lingüística de los investigadores españoles y latinoamericanos. ABSTRACT Major social and political transformations such as the shift towards neoliberal urban policies have widely altered the contemporary structuring of metropolitan areas in Spain and Latin America. One key consequence is the recapture of city centres by wealthy tenants and the eviction of poorer households, a phenomenon usually designated by the term gentrifi cation. In comparison to the comprehensive documentation of gentrifi cation in the Anglophone environment, few scholars 1 Este texto es la traducción del artículo " Gentrifi ca-tion in Spain and Latin America – a Critical Dialogue " que fue publicado en la revista
Este artículo discute las modalidades mediante las cuales es posible aplicar el término de gentr... more Este artículo discute las modalidades mediante las cuales es posible aplicar el término de gentrificación en las ciudades latinoamericanas. Para ello, se defiende en primer lugar la necesidad de disociar el término, en un ejercicio crítico, de los debates tradicionales del mundo anglo-sajón de los cuales procede. A raíz de ese proceso dialéctico, se propone su aplicación en dos dimensiones para las cuales parece tener una especial relevancia: la gentrificación liderada por los agentes inmobiliarios así como la interrelación entre gentrificación y las múltiples luchas vecinales. Son las dos vertientes que se estiman como apropiadas para evidenciar las consecuencias ocultadas de las políticas urbanas contemporáneas y re-politizar los estudios urbanos desde una perspectiva que se relaciona con las reivindicaciones ciudadanas. Esta reflexión crítica que nos lleva a una propuesta conceptual ejemplificada mediante el caso de la ciudad de Santiago de Chile, paradigmático para algunas de las políticas urbanas neoliberales que provocan la gentrificación.
Urban structures in Latin America have changed substantially since the first attempts to generali... more Urban structures in Latin America have changed substantially since the first attempts to generalize the cities in a model more than 25 years ago. Influences of globalisation and economic transformation reduced the polarization tendencies between the ciu-dad rica and the ciudad pobre, while segregation rose on a micro scale. Especially from beginning of the 1990's, typical North American urban forms sprawl over Latin America. The result is a more and more enclosed urban landscape, a loss of public spheres and a change in citizens' habits as shown in the case study from Nordelta. The formulation of this innovative model of the privatised and fragmented Latin American city regards these aspects and builds a connection between US-theories and urban development in Latin America.
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related to debt and dispossession. In Spain, mortgage homeownership and indebtedness led to housing dispossessions, while in Greece, skyrocketing private indebtedness is eventually arranged through housing foreclosures. Building upon the notion of accumulation by dispossession, i.e., on the way capital accumulates wealth in the era of neoliberal globalization, this article elaborates two novel concepts to understand the housing crises in both countries. The perception of dispossession by odious taxation describes the process of wealth extraction facilitated by financial mechanisms in Greece, and dispossession by political fraud is conceived as a characterization of fraudulent political arrangements and financial tools used for orchestrating housing stealth in Spain. This nurtures the perception that a comparative insight on the processes of dispossession in the Spanish and Greek housing markets may facilitate a nuanced understanding over the interrelated processes of contemporary housing restructuring.
related to debt and dispossession. In Spain, mortgage homeownership and indebtedness led to housing dispossessions, while in Greece, skyrocketing private indebtedness is eventually arranged through housing foreclosures. Building upon the notion of accumulation by dispossession, i.e., on the way capital accumulates wealth in the era of neoliberal globalization, this article elaborates two novel concepts to understand the housing crises in both countries. The perception of dispossession by odious taxation describes the process of wealth extraction facilitated by financial mechanisms in Greece, and dispossession by political fraud is conceived as a characterization of fraudulent political arrangements and financial tools used for orchestrating housing stealth in Spain. This nurtures the perception that a comparative insight on the processes of dispossession in the Spanish and Greek housing markets may facilitate a nuanced understanding over the interrelated processes of contemporary housing restructuring.