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Radical Activism in Post-Socialist Space: Alliances Between the Squatting Movement and the Tenants’ Movement in Warsaw

Dominika Polanska
Södertörn University
Dominika Polanska
Södertörn University

Abstract

Squatting has been present in Central and Eastern Europe since the fall of state socialism and Poland is pointed out as exceptional in the development of squatting in the area. However, the phenomenon is rarely studied and squatters have been changing the focus of their claims in the recent years. I will argue that Warsaw holds a specific position on the squatting map of Poland. Nowhere else in the country, and in this part of Europe, have squatters gained as strong negotiating position in a short period of time as the squatting movement in Warsaw. My objective is to analyze the role of relations and cooperation of squatters’ and the tenants’ movements in the light of their recent successes (last four-five years) in Warsaw. The empirical material for the study consists of altogether 40 semi-structured interviews with squatters and activists in the tenants’ movement in the city.