Learning through housing activism in Barcelona: knowledge creation and exchange in neighbourhood-based housing groups

Abstract

As a reaction to a severe housing crisis, Barcelona’s civil society has been creatively reclaiming a radical right to housing. Previously centralized in one specific movement, housing activism in the city has now dissolved into an heterogeneous network, including several small neighborhood-based groups. Learning, understood as the ways in which knowledge is created and exchanged, is crucial for these groups and the network they form. Therefore, this master’s thesis looks at one neighborhood housing group and its relations with other collectives, in order to understand the processes and effects of learning in housing movements. Collected through participant observation of several activities and semi-structured interviews with members, the research findings are explored through the lens of urban assemblages, combined with theories on learning in social movements. The description and classification of seven key moments of learning unveil the complex and multi-layered ways in which learning takes place. The analysis of the effects of learning for individuals and activism groups reinforces the importance of knowledge creation and exchange. Finally, a critical evaluation shows that learning happens inbetween, through intersections or tensions of: human and material, legality and justice, individuality and collectiveness.