Norita is the first of many self-managed community neighbourhoods to come:

A conversation with organizers and residents of Barrio Comunitario Norita Cortiñas in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area (Part 2)

Organizers and residents of Barrio Comunitario Norita Cortiñas in Buenos Aires metropolitan area, with Ana Vilenica and Moisés Quiroz

Published in Issue 6.2 // Conversation Series

Keywords: housing, occupation, evictions, Argentina, Latin America

Abstract:

These two conversations with organizers and residents of Barrio Comunitario Norita Cortiñas in Buenos Aires reflect the ongoing struggle for housing rights in Argentina. The discussions detail the development of the self-managed community, which emerged from land occupations in Guernica during the COVID-19 pandemic. The participants highlight the collective efforts to secure land through self-organization and assembly-based decision-making, ultimately purchasing land to establish a neighbourhood for 62 families. The conversations explore the obstacles faced, including government repression, real estate speculation, and economic challenges, while also emphasizing the critical role of feminist leadership and multisectoral collaboration in their fight for land and housing rights. Additionally, the residents connect their local struggle to broader national and international movements for land reclamation and workers’ rights. This underscores the urgency of solidarity and collective action in confronting neoliberal policies and housing precarity.

doi.org/10.54825/UWKZ9742

Barrio Comunitario Norita Cortiñas is a self-managed community in Guernica, south of Greater Buenos Aires, that emerged from land occupations during the COVID-19 pandemic. The residents organized through assemblies, purchasing land to establish their neighborhood while facing challenges such as government repression and real estate speculation.

Ana Vilenica is a feminist, no border and urban activist and organiser from Serbia currently living in Italy. She is a member of the Beyond Inhabitation Lab, the Radical Housing Journal Editorial collective and the Feminist Autonomous Centre for research (FAC research).

Moisés Quiroz is a historian, urban planner, specialist in social development and PhD candidate on Urban and environmental studies at El Colegio de México. He is an activist for social and cooperative housing in Mexico City.

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Topics: Argentinaneighbourhoodoccupationprecarityself-organization