
Life-Affirmative Struggles for Home Across Borders
Ana Vilenica, Aysegul Can, Derick Anderson, Erin McElroy, Judith Keller, Mara Ferreri, Melora Koepke, Michele Lancione and Samantha Thompson
Issue 5.1 of the Radical Housing Journal (RHJ) examines the current state of struggles for housing and home amidst capital-accumulation-induced urban restructuring worldwide. The authors discuss the enduring impact of settler colonialism on land and housing rights, particularly for Indigenous peoples. Feminist, queer, and trans perspectives are brought to the forefront, emphasizing the leadership roles played by marginalized communities in housing justice struggles. The issue showcases the important contributions of Black women, women of color, and queer activists in fighting for housing justice and challenging oppressive power structures. Additionally, this issue presents alternatives to the current dangerous status quo, urging us to envision radical futures where humanity respects ecological limits, ensures universal access to resources, and grants autonomy in their utilization. It envisions a world where housing is available to all, allowing individuals to choose their desired living arrangements. The ‘Pursuing Tenant International: Learning from the Struggles in Abya Yala’ conversation series further amplifies the voices of tenants, organizers, activists, artists, and thinkers engaged in cross-border struggles. These conversations shed light on the challenges faced by communities fighting for their right to home and dignified living conditions in Los Angeles and Mexico City.
Cover photo: Ana Vilenica
Meg Bishop and Abi O’Connor
Hanna Hilbrandt, Ifigeneia Dimitrakou and Luca Pattaroni
Thalles Vichiato Breda
Tasneem Nagi, Heleen Verheyden, An Vandermeulen, Viviana d’Auria and Luce Beeckmans
Simone Tulumello
Aeve Ribbons
Maansi Shah
Chiara Cacciotti
Pursuing Tenant International: Learning from struggles for home in Abya-Yala, edited by Ana Vilenica
The conversation series ‘Pursuing Tenant International: Learning from struggles for home in Abya-Yala,’ starts from a premise that there is a decentralized Tenant International in the making across different geographies, despite and against forced internationalism, a complex landscape of housing dispossession and abandonment involving various actors, including states, transnational corporations, and non-profit organizations that collaborate across borders to profit from our homes. This conversation series utilizes the Radical Housing Journal as a nod to this movement and builds on the idea that conversations can serve as tools for fostering relationships between tenants, organizers, activists, artists, and thinkers in cross-border struggles. This series, spanning several issues of the Radical Housing Journal, features multiple conversations with base leaders, organizers, and intellectuals involved in local struggles throughout the Americas, also referred to by its Indigenous name Abya-Yala. These conversations will provide readers with valuable insight into tactics and strategies used by different groups to enrich local and cross-border solidarity, strengthen opposition to dispossession, and construct alternatives here and now. These conversations also touch on a wide range of perspectives relating to territories and lands—including those domestic (related to home), communal, Indigenous, Black, and internationalist—where resistance has inspired movements for new housing futures.
Martha Escudero of the Reclaim our Homes in conversation with Ana Vilenica
Kenia Alcocer and Leonardo Vilchis of the Union de Vecinos in conversation with Ana Vilenica
Inés and Teresa of the Flower Drive Tenants Association in conversation with Ana Vilenica, co-edited by Katrina Albright
Pablo Gaytan Santiago aka Hombre de Humo in conversation with Ana Vilenica and Pedro Montes de Oca Quiroz
Rufina Galindo of the Red de Desalojados de la Ciudad de México in conversation with Ana Vilenica and Pedro Montes de Oca Quiroz
Representatives of the Otomí community occupation of the INPI in conversation with Ana Vilenica and Felipe Guerra Arjona
Teresa Roman of the Acción Comunitaria in conversation with Ana Vilenica, co-edited by Bryan Quintanilla
Magda, a Maya housing activist, in conversation with M. Bianet Castellanos
Elizabeth Andrade Huaringa in conversation with Camila Cociña and Ana Sugranyes
Elizabeth Andrade Huaringa en conversación con Camila Cociña y Ana Sugranyes