Common resistance against state-led stigmatization and displacement (original) (raw)

Housing Displacement, 2020

Abstract

‘Housing is a human right’ reads a sign carried by a young woman at the Almen Modstand (Common Resistance) demonstration in Copenhagen, 29 September 2018. The movement was created earlier the same year as a reaction to the commodification, privatization, and territorial stigmatiza-tion of the common, non-profit housing (almene boliger) in general and to the government’s ‘ghetto plan’ in particular that are leading to the displace-ment of thousands of peoples. Coordinated parallel demonstrations organ-ized by Almen Modstand took place in two other major cities in Denmark: Aarhus and Odense (see Figure 8.1). Based on an analysis of the Danish state’s production of inequality through housing policy, we explore state-led stigmatization and displacement in a Nordic (post)welfare context (Baeten et al., 2015) – where ‘displacement can take very subtle (yet effective) forms’ (Beaten et al., 2020, Introduction to this volume). Moreover, we examine the new forms of (common) resistance to the assault on common, non-profit housing and marginalized peoples. ‘Losing one’s place can be much more traumatic than simply changing location’, explains Smith (1994: 253–254). Research on displacement and dispossession shows how these acts of violence are commonly sanctioned by the state and inflicted upon undesired movements, with special focus on Denmark’s largest non-profit housing estate, Gellerupparken. We draw on an intersection between the literature of critical urban theory and social movement research (Fabian et al., 2015; Mayer, 2016; Fabian and Nielsen, 2020). This perspective encourages understanding recent urban social movements in the context of general socio- economic processes behind the production of contemporary cities. Accordingly, we conducted an analysis of the neoliberalization of Danish housing (Larsen and Lund Hansen, 2015), and our findings suggest that the stigmatization of underprivileged ar-eas and peoples and the displacement of precarious groups are intrinsically linked to forms of neoliberal urbanism (e.g., privatization of common hous-ing). Our study thus suggests that the ensuing resistance stems from different but intertwined political processes.minorities and marginalized low- income communities (e.g., Atkinson, 2000; Hartman and Robinson, 2003; Fullilove, 2004; Lees et al., 2008; Porter, 2009). Additionally, when studying processes of marginalization, Wacquant (2016) suggests that we should look into the institutional mechanisms and policies that produce, reproduce, and change networks of position and racialized marginality and stigmatization. This chapter focuses on the role of the Danish state in stigmatizing and dis-placing these groups from targeted common, non-profit housing estates (the so-called ghettos). This politics has spurred critique and housing activism around themes related to ‘the right to the city’, ‘housing as a human right’, and ‘right to freedom from displacement’ – issues clearly linked to transnational discussions (e.g., Attoh, 2011; Fitzpatrick et al., 2014; Hartman 2002; Lund Hansen and Clark, 2017). In this chapter, we look closer at these resistance movements, with special focus on Denmark’s largest non-profit housing estate, Gellerupparken. We draw on an intersection between the literature of critical urban theory and social movement research (Fabian et al., 2015; Mayer, 2016; Fabian and Nielsen, 2020). This perspective encourages understanding recent urban social movements in the context of general socio- economic processes behind the production of contemporary cities. Accordingly, we conducted an analysis of the neoliberalization of Danish housing (Larsen and Lund Hansen, 2015), and our findings suggest that the stigmatization of underprivileged ar-eas and peoples and the displacement of precarious groups are intrinsically linked to forms of neoliberal urbanism (e.g., privatization of common hous-ing). Our study thus suggests that the ensuing resistance stems from different but intertwined political processes.

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