Resisting Evictions Across Europe

It was at the Encuentro transnacionale de Resistencia a los desahucios, at the end of October 2014 in Cordoba, that we as Rosa Luxemburg Foundation brussels got to know the European Action Coalition for the Right to Housing and to the City, which was at that time in its early formation process. There, we saw something important growing in Europe. In that transnational meeting, different groups working on the issues of displacement and dispossession started to talk to each other about common issues, strategies and struggles, and pushed for- ward the coordination process at the European level to find collective responses. It became clear that this new upcoming coalition should be fostered. Therefore, we decided to support the organisation of a two- day meeting the following year to carry on the discussion and networking process. That meeting took place at the National Technical University of Athens at the end of June 2015, showing solidarity from across Europe for the struggle of the Greek people for better living conditions. Discussions ranged from land and housing dispossession in urban and rural spaces to migrant and refugee housing needs in the European south. Proposals were made about alternative housing policies, along with practical discussions on how to organise struggles against evictions and for occupations. As a result, the need to systematise collective knowledge aggregated over time by the different groups became apparent. The Rosa Luxemburg Foundation collaborated in the publication of this study with the strong conviction that it could be a helpful tool to spread knowledge about displacement and eviction in Europe. but more importantly, we hope it is of use to all those struggling for the right to housing and to the city.

Federico Tomasone,
Project Manager at Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung, Brussels Office